ASK U. - The Kollel Institute Foundations of Judaism: Oral Law - Mishna &

A. Oral Law

All the commandments that were given to Moshe at Sinai were given together with their interpretation, as it is written “and I will give thee the Tables of Stone, and the Law, and the Commandment” (Exodus 24,12). “Law” is the Written Law; and “Commandment” is its interpretation: We were commanded to fulfi ll the Law, according to the Commandment. And this Commandment is what is called the Oral Law. The whole of the Law was written down by Moshe Our Teacher before his death, in his own hand. He gave a scroll of the Law to each tribe; and he put another scroll in the Ark for a witness, as it is written “take this book of the Law, and put it by the side of the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee” (Deuteronomy 31,26). But the Commandment, which is the interpretation of the Law--he did not write it down, but gave orders concerning it to the elders, to Yehoshua, and to all the rest of Israel, as it is written “all this word which I command you, that shall you observe to do . . .” (Deuteronomy 13,1). For this reason, it is called the Oral Law. Maimonides - Introduction to ‘Mishne Torah’ - (all futher unattributed citations are from this source)

1. “An eye for an Eye” - This refers to monetary compensation Bava Kamma 84a

2. It shall be an eternal commandment for you. In the seventh month, on the tenth day, you shall affl ict your souls and no manner of work shall be done... Leviticus 16:29

3. The seventh day is the Sabbath of the L-rd, your G-d; you shall not do any work... Exodus 20:9

4. If the place that the L-rd, your G-d will choose to place His Name will be far from you, you may slaughter from your cattle and your fl ocks that the L-rd has given you, as I have commanded you, and you may eat in your cities according to your hearts desire Deutoronomy 12:21

B. Oral Transmission (331 BCE - 188 BCE)

1. Although the Oral Law was not written down, Moshe Our Teacher taught all of it in his court to the seventy elders; and El`azar, Pinehas, and Yehoshua, all three received it from Moshe. And to his student Yehoshua, Moshe Our Teacher passed on the Oral Law and ordered him concerning it. And so Yehoshua throughout his life taught it orally. Maimonides - Introduction to ‘Mishne Torah’

2. Moses received the Torah at Sinai and trasmitted to , Joshua to the elders, the elders to the prophets, the prophets transmitted it to the men of the great assembly... Mishna 1:1

C. The (188 CE)

Our Holy Teacher (Rabbi Yehuda HaNassi - Rabbi Judah ‘the prince’) wrote the Mishnah. From the time of Moshe to Our Holy Teacher, no one had written a work from which the Oral Law was publicly taught. Rather, in each generation, the head of the then existing court or the prophet of the time wrote

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down for his private use notes on the traditions he had heard from his teachers, and he taught in public from memory. So too, everyone wrote down according to his ability parts of the explanation of the Torah and of its laws he heard, as well as the new matters that developed in each generation, which had not been received by oral tradition, but had been deduced by applying the Thirteen Principles for Interpreting the Torah, and had been agreed upon by the Great Rabbinical Court. Such had always been done, until the time of Our Holy Teacher. Why did Our Holy Teacher do so, and did not leave things as they were? Because he saw that the number of students was continuing to go down, calamities were continually happening, wicked government was extending its domain and increasing in power, and the Israelites were wandering and emigrating to remote places. He thus wrote a work to serve as a handbook for all, so that it could be rapidly studied and would not be forgotten; throughout his life, he and his court continued giving public instruction in the Mishnah. He gathered together all the traditions, all the enactments, and all the explanations and interpretations that had been heard from Moshe Our Teacher or had been deduced by the courts of all the generations in all matters of the Torah; and he wrote the Book of the Mishnah from all of them. And he taught it in public, and it became known to all Israel; everyone wrote it down and taught it everywhere, so that the Oral Law would not be forgotten by Israel.

1. Those who study Mishna bring destruction upon the world. How can it occur to you to say that they bring destruction upon the world?! Rabina said: Because they decide points of law from their teachings. Talmud 22a

2. A valuation of money. Money’s worth. In the presence of the court. On the evidence of witnesses who are free men and persons under the jurisdiction of the law. Women are also subject to the law of torts. [Both] the plaintiff and defendant are involved in the payment. Bava Kamma - Mishna 1:3

D. Beraisa

Rav wrote the and the to explain and expound the principles of the Mishnah, and Rabbi Hiyya wrote the to explain the matters of the Mishnah. So too, Rabbi Hoshaya and bar Qappara wrote alternative oral traditions to explain the text of the Mishnah. Rabbi Yohanan wrote the in the Land of Israel about three hundred years after the destruction of the Temple. The Mishnah scholars wrote other works to interpret the words of the Torah: Rabbi Hoshayah, a student of Our Holy Teacher, wrote an explanation of the Book of Genesis. Rabbi Yishmael wrote a commentary [on the Biblical text] from the beginning of the book of Exodus to the end of the Torah, which is called the Mechilta; and Rabbi Aqivah also wrote a Mechilta. Other Torah scholars later wrote collections of sermonic materials on the Bible. All these were written before the Babylonian Talmud.

E. Aggadic Midrash

...Other Torah scholars later wrote collections of sermonic materials on the Bible.

1. And the third class [of thinkers]... are the individuals who have a clear conception of the greatness of the Sages and the excellence of their intellect…They know that the Sages, peace be upon them, did not speak words of nonsense. It is also clear to them that heir words have both superfi cial and deeper meanings and that all of their statements which speak of impossibilities were said in the manner of riddle and parable, for this is the method of the great Sages. Maimonides Commentary to the Mishna, Chapter 10 2 ASK U. - The Kollel Institute Foundations of Judaism: Oral Law - Mishna & Talmud

2. Said Rabba bar Bar Channah: Once I saw a frog that was as big as the city of Hegronia. And how big is the city of Hegronia? Sixty houses. A serpent came and swallowed the frog and then a raven came and swallowed the serpent. It fl ew up and sat on a tree. Consider how strong that tree was! Said Rav pappa Bar Shmuel: “Had I not been there myself I would never have believed it Talmud Bava Basra 73b

3. When the earth was astonishingly empty, with darkness upon the face of the deep (Genesis 1:2). Rabbi Shimon interpreted this verse as referring to the four kingdoms that took Israel into exile. The word “empty” refers to Babylon, as it is written, I have seen the land and behold it is empty (Jeremiah 14); “astonishingly” refers to Persia, as it is written, and they made extreme haste; and the word “darkness” refers to Greece, who darkened the eyes of Israel with their edicts, because they said to them “write on the horns of the ox that you have no share in the God of Israel...” “And the spirit of G-d hovered”: this alludes to the spirit of Messiah, as we read, “And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him” (Isa. 11:2) Genesis Rabba 2:4

4. You should know that we have three kinds of books. The fi rst is the Torah, and all of us believe in it with perfect faith. The second is what is called the Talmud, which is a commentary on the commandments of the Torah. There are 613 commandments in the Torah, and there is not which is not explained in the Talmud. We believe in the Talmud’s explanations of the commandments.. We have a third [kind of] book called Midrash, meaning ‘sermons’. It is just as if the bishop would rise and deliver a sermon, and one of the listeners who was pleased by the sermon recorded it. With regard to this boo, if one believes in it, it is fi ne, but if one does not believe in it, he is not harmed [spiritually]. Nachmanides - The Disputation at Barcelona (Paragraph 39)

F. Rabbinic Decrees

From them are also found the restrictive legislations enacted by the Torah scholars and prophets in each generation, to serve as a protecting fence around the Law as learned from Moshe in the interpretation of “you shall keep my preventive measure” (Leviticus 18,30), which said take preventive measures to preserve my preventive measure.

1. If there arises a matter too hard for you in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between plague and plague, being matters of controversy inside your gates; then shall you arise, and get to the place which the Lord your God shall choose; And you shall come to the priests the Levites, and to the judge who shall be in those days, and inquire; and they shall declare to you the sentence of judgment; And you shall do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the Lord shall choose shall declare to you; and you shall take care to do according to all that they inform you; According to the sentence of the Torah which they shall teach you, and according to the judgment which they shall tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn from the sentence which they shall declare to you, to the right hand, nor to the left. Deuteronomy 17:8-11

2. BUT IF HE IS A CHEAT, IF HE STATES ITS IDENTIFICATION MARKS, IT MUST NOT BE GIVEN UP TO HIM. Our Rabbis taught: At fi rst, whoever lost an article used to state its marks of identifi cation and take it. When deceivers increased in number, it was enacted that he should be told, ‘Go forth and bring witnesses that you are not a deceiver; then take it’. Talmud 28b 3 ASK U. - The Kollel Institute Foundations of Judaism: Oral Law - Mishna & Talmud

3. ON ONE MAY NOT RIDE AN ANIMAL; it is a Preventive measure lest he go outside the ‘tehum’. Then this proves that the law of ‘tehum’ is Biblical? — Rather say, it is a preventive measure lest he cut off a switch. NOR SWIM IN WATER; it is a preventive measure lest he make a fl otation device. Talmud Betiza 36b

G. Rabbinic Laws

From them are found as well the customs and affi rmative legislations that were enacted or brought into use during the various generations as the court of each generation saw fi t. For it is forbidden to deviate from them, as it is written “you shall not turn aside from whatever they shall declare to you, neither to the right hand nor to the left” (see Deuteronomy 17,11).

Our Rabbis instituted four cups as symbolizing freedom (The four expressions of freedom in the Exodus narrative) Talmud 117b

H. The principles of extrapolation

So too [from them are found] extraordinary interpretative judgments and rules that were not received from Moshe, but that the Great Rabbinical Court of its generation deduced by applying the Principles for Interpreting the Torah and the Elders judged to be appropriate, and decided that such shall be the Law. All of this, from the time of Moshe to his own time, Rav Ashe wrote in the Talmud.

NOR DOES A PAID GUARDIAN PAY (Mishna Shevuos 42b)... How do we know this? — For our Rabbis taught: “If a man shall give his neighbour” — that is a general proposition; “a donkey, or an ox, or a sheep” — that is a specialization; “or any beast to keep” — that is again a general proposition. Now, in a general proposition followed by a specialization followed again by a general proposition you include that which is similar to the specialization. Just as the specialization is clearly defi ned as a movable article which is intrinsically valuable (as opposed to a check e.g.), so everything movable which is intrinsically valuable [is included]. Thus real estate is excluded, not being movable... Talmud Bava Metziah 57b

I. The Origin of Disputes

1. It has been taught; R. Jose said; Originally there were not many disputes in Israel, but one of seventy-one members sat in the Hall of Hewn Stones, and two courts of twenty-three sat, one at the entrance of the and one at the door of the [Temple] Court, and other courts of twenty-three sat in all Jewish cities. If a matter of inquiry arose, the local Beth din was consulted. If they had a tradi- tion [thereon] they stated it; if not, they went to the nearest Beth din. If they had a tradition thereon, they stated it, if not, they went to the Beth din situated at the entrance to the Temple Mount; if they had a tradi- tion, they stated it; if not, they went to the one situated at the entrance of the Court, and he [who differed from his colleagues] declared, ‘Thus have I expounded, and thus have my colleagues expounded; thus have I taught, and thus have they taught.’ If they had a tradition thereon, they stated it, and if not, they all proceeded to the Hall of Hewn Stones, where they [i.e., the Great Sanhedrin] sat from the morning until the evening talmid; on Sabbaths and festivals they sat within the khel. The question was then put before them: if they had a tradition thereon, they stated it; if not, they took a vote: if the majority voted ‘unclean’ they declared it so; if ‘clean’ they ruled even so. But when the disciples of Shammai and Hillel, who [sc. the disciples] had insuffi ciently studied, increased [in number], disputes multiplied in Israel, and the Torah became as two Toroth. Talmud Sanhedrin 88b 4 ASK U. - The Kollel Institute Foundations of Judaism: Oral Law - Mishna & Talmud

2. Wherever in the Talmud you fi nd the sages analyzing and debating each other through constructing logical sequences, bringing scriptural proofs for their elucidations - the proofs were not brought because the matter was so unclear that they needed these proofs to solve it...Rather the sages were searching for the precise indication planted in the verse for the well-known original Sinaitic details which were received from Moses. Maimonides - Introduction the commentary on the Mishna

3. Our Rabbis have taught, ‘The fruit of a goodly tree’ implies a tree the taste of whose ‘fruit’ and ‘wood’ is the same. Therefore we see that it is the esrog. Might it not be said to be pepper?... Talmud 35a

J. The Talmud (200 CE - 550 CE)

All of the Torah scholars mentioned here were the great men of the generations: some of them were heads of Torah colleges, some were exilarchs, and some were members of great sanhedrin. Besides them in each generation were thousands and tens of thousands who learned from them and with them. And Ravina and Rav Ashe are the last of the [authoritative] Torah scholars in the Talmud; it was Rav Ashe who wrote the Babylonian Talmud in the Land of Babylon, about a hundred years after Rabbi Yohanan wrote the Jerusalem Talmud. The subject matter of the two is the interpretation of the text of the Mishnah and explanation of its profoundest points and the matters that developed in the various courts from the time of Our Holy Teacher until the writing of the Talmud. From the two Talmuds, and from the Tosefta, and from the Sifra and from the Sifre, and from the Toseftot--from them all--are to be found what is forbidden and what is permitted, what is unclean and what is clean, what is punishable and what is not punishable, what is fi t for use and what is unfi t for use, according to the unbroken oral tradition from Moshe as received from Sinai.

1. MISHNAH. If he [the claimant] states the article lost, but not its identifi cation marks, it must not be surrendered to him. But if he is a cheat, even if he states its marks of identifi cation, it must not be given up to him, because it is written ‘[and it shall be with you] until the seeking of your brother after it’, meaning, until you have examined your brother whether he be a cheat or not.

2. GEMARA. It has been stated: Rab Judah said: He proclaims. ‘[I have found] a lost article.’ R. Nahman said: He proclaims, ‘[I have found] a garment’. ‘Rab Judah said: He proclaims a lost article,’ for should you say that he proclaims a garment, we are afraid of cheats. ‘R. Nahman said: He proclaims. a garment’; for ‘we do not fear cheats, as otherwise the matter is endless’.

3. We learnt: IF HE STATES THE ARTICLE LOST, BUT NOT ITS IDENTIFICATION MARKS, IT MUST NOT BE SURRENDERED TO HIM. Now, if you say that the one who fi nds it simply proclaims that he found an object, it is makes sense; [And what the Mishna is] informing us is that though he states that it was a garment, sitll, since he does not submit its identifi cation marks, it is not returned to him. But if you say that the one who fi nds it simply proclaims that he found a garment, then if one [the fi nder] states that it was a garment, and the other [the claimant] states that he lost a garment, is it necessary to teach that it is not returned to him unless he declares its marks of identifi cation? — Said R. Safra: After all [it can be explained that], he proclaims that he found a garment. [The Mishnah means that] he [the fi nder] stated [that he had found] a garment, while the other [the claimant] submitted identifi cation marks. What then is meant by ‘HE DID NOT STATE ITS IDENTIFICATION MARKS’? — He did not state signifi cant identifi cation marks. Talmud Bava Metzia 28b 5 ASK U. - The Kollel Institute Foundations of Judaism: Oral Law - Mishna & Talmud

K. Redaction and close of the Talmud

Ravina and Rav Ashe and their colleagues were thus the last of the great Torah scholars of Israel who wrote down the Oral Law, enacted restrictive legislations, enacted affi rmative legislations, and enacted binding customs; and their legislations and customs gained universal acceptance among the people of Israel in all of the places where they settled.

L. The Two Talmuds - Bavli and Yerushalmi

Since the conclusion in our Talmud (Bavli) permits, it matters not to us that they forbid in the Yerushalmi, for we rely on our own Talmud (Bavli). This is because is a later [work], and they (the redactors of Bavli were experts in Yerushalmi more than us, and if they did not establish that this statement of the Yerushalmi is not to be relied upon they would not have permitted it to us.” Rif - End of Talmud

M. Stages of development of Mishna and Talmud

Stage 1: Teachings are passed down orally. Many teachings are written down as personal notes.

Stage 2: Rabbi Judah collates and fi lters the various texts and publishes them organized by topic. Rab- binic enactments and laws are cited as well. He does not include many opinions which he determines to be unauthoritative. He also uses a shorthand form leaving the fi nal product concise and compact.

Stage 3: Remaining texts which were left out of ‘Mishna’ are published in various other collections such as ‘Tosefta’, ‘Midrash’, etc...

Stage 4: All of the texts are compared and contrasted with the Mishna over the course of approximately 250 years in order to clarify as many points as possible. The record of these discussions and conclusions is the ‘Talmud’ (Gemara). The Talmud also includes some of the homiletical and allegorical lessons of ‘Aggada’ which were part of the previously described texts.

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Appendix A The 13 rules of Torah interpretation Rabbi Yishmael said: The Torah is interpreted by thirteen rules:

1. Through a conclusion inferred from a lenient law to a strict one, and vice versa.

2. Through tradition that similar words in different contexts are meant to clarify one another.

3. Through a general principle derived from one verse, and a general principle derived from two verses.

4. Through a general statement limited by a specifi cation.

5. Through a specifi cation broadened by a general statement.

6. Through a general statement followed by a specifi cation followed, in turn, by another general statement - you may only infer whatever is similar to the specifi cation.

7. When a general statement requires a specifi cation or a specifi cation requires a general statement to clarify its meaning.

8. Anything that was included in a general statement, but was singled out from the general statement in order to teach something, was not singled out to teach only about itself, but to apply its teaching to the entire generality.

9. Anything that was included in a general statement, but was then singled out to discuss a provision similar to the general category, has been singled out to be more lenient rather than to be more severe.

10. Anything that was included in a general statement, but was then singled out to discuss a provision not similar to the general category, has been singled out both to be more lenient and more severe.

11. Anything that was included in a general statement, but was then singled out to be treated as a new case, cannot be returned to its general statement unless Scripture returns it explicitly to its general statement.

12. A matter elucidated from its context, or from the following passage.

13. Similarly, two passages that contradict one another - until a third passage comes to reconcile them.

(This list can be found at the end of the “Korbanot” section of the morning prayers. It is taken from the intorduction to the Sifra Midrash)

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Mishna - Compiled by Rabbi

(’seder‘ ,סדר Six “Orders” by Topic (called .1 (’masechtah‘ ,מסכת Each “Order” Subdivided by Topic into Tractates, 60 (called .2 (’perek’perek‘ ,פרק Each Tractate Subdivided by Chapters (called .3 4. Each Chapter Subdivided into individual Mishna.

(ששה סדרי משנה – ש”ס ) ’The Six ‘Orders

Seeds”) - Laws relating to agriculture in the Land of Israel; to contributions to“) זרעים .1 the Cohanim (“priests”) and the Levites; to other things that must be separated from the harvest and given to the poor; and, incidentally, laws concerning blessings.

Meetings”, ‘Festival’) – The general subject matter comprises the laws that apply“) מועד .2 to the Sabbath, Festivals and fasts, and the commandments that are unique to each individual festival.

Women”) – Deals with laws connected with marriage and the obligations“) נשים .3 resulting from it. There are, however, tractates in this order whose place in it is merely associative.

Damagers”) – Deals with civil and criminal law, corporal and capital“) נזיקין .4 punishment, the composition of Rabbinical Courts, erroneous rulings made by them and judicial procedure. Incidentally it includes laws regarding idol worship and its avoidance, the personal testimony of Sages with regard to various Halachic subjects and matters of ethics and wisdom (“Ethics of the Fathers”, Pirkei Avot)

Holy things”) – Laws concerning the holy offerings, the Temple and dietary“) קדשים Kadshim .5 laws

Ritual Purities”) – Laws concerning ritual purity and impurity including“) טהרות Taharoth .6 laws of “home life”

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