Q&A: Ancient Enactments
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Ancient Enactments
Question
Hello Rabbi Michi, are enactments that appear in the words of the Sages and are attributed to the Patriarchs, to Moses our teacher, and to King David, really enactments that were instituted by them in an actual historical sense, or is this a normative claim by the Sages in order to strengthen the enactment among the people? Does the Rabbi know of sources that deal with this? Thanks in advance.
Answer
I don’t know and I’m not familiar with any. You can check Shlomo Zevin Tzipansky’s book HaTakkanot BeYisrael (Enactments in Israel), and perhaps also the academic research literature.