top of page

Is Talmud G-d's Law?



I am fully aware that my thoughts concerning the Talmud (the Oral Torah of Moshe) may conflict with many of my learned Jewish brothers who have spent a lifetime of study in it. That being said, I want to make one thing perfectly clear: In my humble opinion, as someone who has spent decades looking at both sides of the issue very carefully and prayerfully, the Talmud is as legitimate as the authoritative word of HaShem as the Written Torah (Teaching) of Moshe Rabbenu of blessed memory.


Now that that issue, hopefully, is laid to rest I would like to move on to some of my thoughts concerning the Oral Torah which are basically two-fold followed by a short conclusion on the subject.


[1] There is an Oral Law from Adonai to Moshe Rabbenu delivered in the same manner as the Written Torah beginning at Mt. Horeb (Sinai) and continuing for the next forty years during the wanderings of the first generation of Hebrews in the wilderness after the exodus from Egypt. The Oral Law was not put down in writing by Moshe but, as the name implies, was passed on by mouth from generation to generation to the priests, elders and scribes until such time in the future when it was codified in written form beginning soon after the destruction of the second Temple in Jerusalem in 70 C.E. and over the following 200 years.


[2] The now written Oral Torah contains the original Oral Law, as well as, the spirited discussions among the priests, elders, scribes and later Rabbis as to the fulfillment of both the Written and Oral Torah. Over time the discussions (the hedges around the Law) were traditionally accepted as carrying as much weight as the original Oral Torah, thus we have in the Mishnah and Gemara (Talmud) a comprehensive elucidation of the Oral Law and Rabbinic Traditions concerning that Law.


In Conclusion:

The Oral Torah is validated and is as true and binding on the life of a Jew as the Written Torah. We can know the actual Oral commands given by HaShem to Moshe where and when all the Sages and Rabbis agree in the Mishnah and Gemara as to a thing.


For example:

There are many times, throughout the Written Torah where HaShem or Moshe says to do or not do such and such, to follow this or that guideline and is stated with "as I have told you." You can study the Written Torah over an entire lifetime and never find anywhere in it what that or those "as I have told you" are concerning the subject in question. Why? Because it was passed on verbally by HaShem to Moshe, who told his brother Aharon, who told his sons the priests, who told the hand-picked men of the assembly of tribal leaders, who told the people. Eventually those same teachings were passed on to the Sanhedrin, the Great Assembly, the Seat of Moshe (aka the Parushim - Pharisees), who became the Rabbis post destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. and remain in the Seat of Moshe to this day. Not all Rabbis today sit in the seat of Moshe, only those who have spent their entire lives in deep study of the Mishna, Gemara and Midrash in the original language of Hebrew and Aramaic are qualified to continue the task of Oral Torah interpretation for their era with unquestioned authority.


Have you ever asked, "How do we know how to celebrate the Pesach (Passover)? Why is the Seder plate arranged the way it is? Why do we eat bitter herbs. We know it gives us the answer to these in the Passover Haggadah, but from where did the instructions in the Haggadah originate? The Oral Torah.


Why was a donkey, an unclean animal, singled out to be redeemed with a lamb, when no other unclean animal gets this special attention from HaShem? Ever wondered why we Jews where a kippah or yarmulke? Again, explained in the Talmud (Oral Torah).


How do we know what and how the construction of a Mezuzah or the Tefillin should be? The Talmud, of course. Why do we pray three times a day? Again, Oral Torah.


These and so many more commandments and instructions were the "as I have told you" that HaShem related to Moshe who passed it down to our days. For those Jews and Hebrew Christians that deny the Oral Law yet follow many of the practices of Jews that are not specifically specified in the Written Torah, the wearing of the katan, the prayer shawl (tzitzit), the kippah, following the procedures for Pesach, Yom Kippur, and nearly all the dedications and festivals of HaShem are doing so because of what was taught us by Moshe in the Oral Law. They are following Talmud while at the same time denying it. Quite a paradox.


Another important example: All Sages of Blessed Memory agree that the Shema (“Hear Israel Adonai is G-d, Adonai is One) must be said by every Jew everyday, twice a day. That is the Oral Law given to Moshe and passed on down through the generations since it was first given to the Jewish people.


All also agree that these things:

Peah (the Law of feeding the poor from the fields {corners of the fields left unharvested}), The quantity of First Fruits, the value of the appearance offering, the performance of righteous deeds (mitzvot), or the time spent in study of Torah have no specific measure. These are Oral Torah from the mouth of HaShem to Moshe Rabbenu who then passed it on via verbal communication throughout the generations of Israel.


The ongoing debates and discussions about obeying these and all other commandments given in the Oral and Written Torah represent the varying ways each generation attempted to faithfully fulfill the commandments of Adonai. The hearer and later reader of the Oral Law were free to choose from the myriad of opinions on how to adhere to the Oral Law. We are free to decide for ourselves, not which actual Oral commandment to follow, but which Oral interpretation or tradition of the priests, elders, scribes and Rabbis direction concerning said Law to follow in order to obey the commands of Adonai via Moshe. However, where there is no separation between the Sages and Rabbis as to a meaning or direction to follow we are only free to follow the majority opinion. (eg. House of Shammai - House of Hillel).


The Written Torah (First Five Books of Moshe in the Tanakh) are, pardon the pun, written in stone. The Oral Torah too, in a certain way, has become set in stone since the days it was moved from being orally transmitted to its written form in the Mishnah and Gemara (Talmud). However, HaShem has kept the Oral tradition purposefully flexible, as it should be, for each generation faces similar but also unique challenges to live a life of righteousness according to the Torah of Moshe (eg. electricity, computers, internet, planes, trains and automobiles).

2 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All
bottom of page