Q&A: Halakha Given to Moses at Sinai — Why Not Write It in the Torah?
Halakha Given to Moses at Sinai — Why Not Write It in the Torah?
Question
Hello Rabbi,
Do you have an idea why God did not write the laws given to Moses at Sinai explicitly in the Torah, or at the very least allow them to be derived through the thirteen hermeneutical principles, like the rest of the Oral Torah?
Thank you,
Answer
Yes. I explained it in detail in my book Ruach Mishpat. There I argue that, at least according to Maimonides, both laws derived from exegesis and laws given to Moses at Sinai are rabbinic laws, but their definitions differ. A regular Torah-level law has content (a benefit or harm resulting from doing or not doing something) and also a command, and therefore it needs to be commanded in the Torah and to have its own distinct definition (different from other commandments; see my article on the ninth root).
And now for the difference between the above categories: exegetically derived laws have content but no command, whereas laws given to Moses at Sinai have command but no content. See there for implications regarding the laws of cases of doubt, for example.