Genizah of the Oral Torah

שו”ת › Category: Talmudic study › Genizah of the Oral Torah

asked 2 years ago

Hello, Your Honor. Is the command to store the Gemara and all the rest, i.e. the Oral Torah, from the Torah? And if so, how can such a thing be commanded if it was forbidden to write it down from the beginning (or if it is a retroactive command)?

Discover more from הרב מיכאל אברהם

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

0 Answers

0 Vote Up Vote Down

מיכי Staff answered 2 years ago

What requires a Genizah from the law is only the words and deeds of holiness, not the deeds of a mitzvah. See a brief overview here: https://www.yeshiva.org.il/ask/120492 The question is, what are the sacred texts? It is difficult to deduce this from the primary sources. It is accepted that Torah texts require genizah, including Toshefa after the author has been granted permission, and this is at least if they are written as a book intended for preservation and use (as opposed to pamphlets and the like). When there are verses or at least when there is the name of God, it is also accepted to genizah.

Discover more from הרב מיכאל אברהם

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

מיכי Staff replied 2 years ago

See also here: https://ph.yhb.org.il/07-06-14/

עמיר חוזה replied 2 years ago

Thank you very much for the detailed answer. I think what bothered me when I asked the question, and it has become more clear to me now, is how it is possible that the Torah commands us to treat Torah prohibitions with respect. Because I understand that even in situations where the Torah wants us to initially avoid them, it can still do so, assuming that something happened to the commandment regarding them (and there is no shortage of examples), but here we are dealing with something a bit absurd: giving the same status to the ’oral and written Torah’ as to the written Torah, and the oral and written Torah itself is a bad thing in the eyes of the Torah. So why would the Torah want us to respect it and even give it the same status as the written Torah (and the words and uses of holiness)? Does it make sense that a Torah prohibition receives the status of holiness? It is a bit reminiscent, on the other hand, of the halacha that one does not bless non-kosher food at the end of eating it.

מיכי Staff replied 2 years ago

First of all, this is not a crime. The sages were permitted to write for good reasons. This was done with permission. Furthermore, these books were given the same status as Torah scrolls for several halachic matters (impure hands, saving a fire, and more). And finally, the obligation to preserve a book is because it is Torah, because of the content. The fact that it is written is a marginal matter. This content should be treated with respect.