Q&A: Change in Jewish Law
Change in Jewish Law
Question
Hello, honored Rabbi,
If I have found favor in your eyes, please answer the following questions.
1. Does the Rabbi believe that the basis of the Oral Torah came down from Heaven, and if not, then how did they observe the Torah back then, and why do we observe Jewish law today?
2. If we did receive the basis of the Oral Torah at Sinai, then is it possible to change all Torah-level laws? Including basic things like the thirty-nine categories of prohibited labor on the Sabbath? And what is even the meaning of something being Torah-level if it can be changed so fundamentally?
3. Is it possible to interpret the verses however we want, or were certain interpretations of verses passed down by tradition to the Sages as the true interpretation? If not, then how did they do it?
4. If the Rabbi holds that everything can be changed, etc., then if you have the energy I would be happy if you could direct me to sources that support your approach.
And just incidentally, thank you very much for your sacred work. I have never met a person with intellectual integrity like yours, something that I missed very much in the religious-Haredi world in which I used to live and still live.
Answer
- I assume so.
- It is possible, because the Oral Torah is primarily a set of tools (such as the hermeneutical principles) and not halakhic results. If a law was given as part of the Oral Torah, that is what is meant by a law given to Moses at Sinai, and that cannot be changed. What connection is there between classifying a law as Torah-level and the ability to change it? On the contrary, changing a Torah-level law is easier than changing a rabbinic law. See Maimonides, beginning of chapter 2 of the Laws of Rebels.
- We received interpretive tools. A small minority of the interpretations were transmitted at Sinai, if any at all.
- I referred you to Maimonides, beginning of chapter 2 of the Laws of Rebels, who of course is only presenting the halakhic rulings from the Talmud itself.
Many thanks