Q&A: Oral Torah
Oral Torah
Question
Hello Rabbi,
If the Oral Torah is not supposed to change and be dynamic over time, why was it given to us orally and not in writing?
The claim of David Friedlander (and others) that the Oral Torah was deliberately given orally in order to create dynamism, and that the fact that it was later committed to writing sins against that purpose, sounds convincing… What do those who believe that the Oral Torah is not subject to change (like the Written Torah) answer to this? In other words, why do they think the Torah was given orally and not in writing?
(I saw some of the wonderful things you recently wrote about tradition and dynamism, but I didn’t find any reference to this point.)
Thanks in advance.
Answer
I don’t usually provide explanations for other people’s views. Ask them.
Discussion on Answer
* not written down in the sense of not being committed to writing, but rather remaining oral…
Definitely not. Having a written skeleton is very helpful.
Okay, thank you.
I’ll infer from your words that you don’t agree with “their view.”
If so, in your opinion, was writing down the Oral Torah a mistake, and would it have been better had it not been written down?