Q&A: The Oral Torah
The Oral Torah
Question
Why isn’t the Oral Torah mentioned in the Torah?
Answer
Why should it be mentioned? That’s like asking why Rashi’s commentary is not mentioned in the Torah. The Oral Torah is the interpretation of words and the methods of exposition by which the Written Torah is handled. Since when does a text mention the rules for interpreting itself? That’s like asking why the law book of the State of Israel does not contain a Hebrew-to-Hebrew or Hebrew-to-English dictionary, nor the rules of interpretation (almost none do. There is an Interpretation Law, but that’s a different discussion).
Discussion on Answer
The books of esoteric teaching certainly did not come down from Sinai. They were written by people. My claim is that the esoteric tradition did not come down from Sinai either, except perhaps for a few basic principles. I don’t know.
There is no simple way to describe what in the Oral Torah came down from Sinai. There are laws given to Moses at Sinai, the hermeneutical principles (in my view in an initial version, not yet fully conceptualized), and interpretations of words. That’s about it.
Elsewhere the Rabbi mentioned that the books of esoteric teaching did not come down from Sinai. Following that, do you think that the principles of the esoteric tradition did come down from Sinai—if that even interests you?
But even more interesting: which parts of the Oral Torah came down from Sinai, and how can we even identify them within the Mishnaic and Talmudic corpus?
And does that even matter from your perspective, since everything is subject to interpretation? (Though I do know your view on the matter of authority.)
Igal