Q&A: The Authority of the Sages to Enact Ordinances
The Authority of the Sages to Enact Ordinances
Question
Hello Rabbi, my name is Shnaor David and I am 15.5 years old.
I saw that the sages have authority to enact new ordinances, but when I looked at the verses that are brought as proof for this, I had a question:
The verses:
“And you shall keep My charge”
“And observe to do according to all that they instruct you”
“Do not turn aside right or left”
But these verses speak about judgment, in the context of a judge who is supposed to judge the people only in the place that God will choose.
(Except for “And you shall keep My charge,” which according to the plain meaning, as I understand it, means to keep God’s laws.)
So how did we get to a situation in which there are Jewish laws and ordinances?
After all, there is also the verse: “You shall not add to it and you shall not subtract from it.” So how is it possible to enact ordinances and say that they have any kind of divine force?
In addition, the verses that are used as proofs speak only about a situation in which a person has a question and comes to a judge.
We have the law given to Moses at Sinai that tells us how to keep the Torah. If God really wanted us to observe the ordinances of the Sages, wouldn’t He have bothered to tell us that?
Rashi explained the verses I mentioned above as proof of the authority of the sages to enact ordinances, but where does Rashi himself get the power to interpret them that way (or more precisely, why would there be an obligation to listen to his interpretation)? I did not hear that God gave anyone authority to interpret the Torah. We need to interpret it according to the tradition (from the time of Moses our teacher), logic, and objective textual study of Scripture (in my opinion).
And regarding the claim that each one passed the authority on to the next—where does the power to transfer that authority come from, and where do we see that such authority was given in the first place to the first person who passed it on?
I distinguish between ordinances of the sages and the law given to Moses at Sinai, because the whole Torah speaks about transmitting the tradition to the people: “Speak to the children of Israel and say…” In addition, it can be inferred that God gave instructions on how to keep the Torah, because the Five Books alone, without the law given to Moses at Sinai, are not all that clear.
And even a judge has no authority (in my opinion) to enact ordinances, because that too is not written in the Torah; it only says that he should judge the people (like a judge today—a judge does not enact ordinances) in a proper state :).
Shnaor.
Answer
Already in the Torah itself we find “between blood and blood” and “between lesion and lesion.” “Lesion and lesion” is not a legal quarrel but a halakhic ruling. Beyond that, there is a logical argument that there must be an authoritative institution that determines what the law is, otherwise the Torah falls apart. By the way, according to Nachmanides, the verses you cited are not the source for the authority of the sages to enact and legislate, but at most just a textual support.
The comparison to a modern legal system is not relevant. In Israel there is a Knesset that can change the laws. In Jewish law, the Torah was given at Sinai and the legislator is in heaven. Who is supposed to do the work of implementation, interpretation, refinement, and change? There has to be a national institution. And in any case, even in modern law, judges definitely do legislate (that is called judicial legislation), because the idea that a judge merely interprets the law deductively while the legislator alone legislates is naive. It is impossible to function that way, even when the legislator is alive and present among us.
No one has any intrinsic “power” to interpret. If you interpret the verses differently, then act differently. No one can come with complaints that you are not obeying an authority that you do not recognize. Of course, it is possible that you are mistaken, and then your judgment is left to heaven (if you arrived at your position in a balanced, serious, knowledgeable way, etc.).
Discussion on Answer
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There has to be an authority that determines what the law is—therefore we have the law given to Moses at Sinai; it teaches us everything connected to the commandments that is not written in the Torah.
The assumption that there must be a person with authority to interpret and legislate halakhic ordinances is, in my humble opinion, unfounded.
In my opinion, there is no need for an authority that legislates laws and establishes ordinances. After all, God gave us all the commandments; if He wanted to give us more laws, He would have given them to Moses and to the Jewish people. Why would He need us to make additional fences around His words? I do not see ordinances as anything more than civil law, and that too only when most of the Jewish people accept those laws (unlike today).
The comparison to the legal system is relevant, because judges are replaced, and their authority is similar to that of the previous judge, so they can disagree with him and change his rulings. But we human beings do not come close to God, and we have no ability to add, change, or legislate laws in His name or connected to Him.
My view is that one must obey the Torah and the law given to Moses at Sinai, but regarding what God did not hand down to us—we have a free hand in the matter (just as no one tells you how to walk in the street or how to move your hand…).
The Torah did not speak about a judge with authority to legislate laws, only about a judge who will judge the people. There is no proof at all that judges can enact ordinances or determine halakhic laws for the people.