To the Orthodox Jew, the Oral Torah is intrinsic to our understanding of the Written Torah, both being revealed at Sinai and two parts of a single entity.To the non-Jew and to the "messianic Jew" as well (a Jew who has adopted some forms of Christianity),the Oral Torah appears as the superfluous imposition of rabbinic legalism. There is, however, definitive evidence that G-d interwove the Written Torah with the Oral Torah, and, in my opinion, nothing provides greater proof of this than the Jewish Calendar.For while G-d tells us in the Written Torah what to celebrate as Jewish festivals, throughout our generations, it is the Oral Torah which tells us WHEN these festivals occur.
In the book, The Path of the Righteous Gentile, by Rabbis Chaim Clorfene and Yakov Rogalsky, there is an interesting discussion regarding resistance to acceptance of the Oral Torah. They write, in the introduction:
"When G-d gave the Torah to the Jewish people on Mount Sinai, the people all accepted the written Torah willingly, but G-d had to lift the mountain over their heads and threaten to drop it on them to persuade them to accept the Oral Torah, that is, the rabbinic interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures. If the Jews had difficulty in accepting the Oral Torah as no less divine than the scriptures themselves, how much more difficult must it be for the non-Jews. But accept the rabbis they must, for the source of understanding the Seven Noahide Commandments is found in the Talmud and later rabbinic teachings, and nowhere else."
While most of Christianity gets along quite well without the Oral Torah, it is only because they have deluded themselves into believing that the Written Torah too is abolished or no longer binding, either for Jew or Gentile. Yet, if there is some commandment that they decide really should continue on perpetually, such as "do not murder" or "do not commit adultery," they are then placed into the position of formulating their own definitions of what murder and adultery mean. In other words, when there is no Oral Torah to explain how these commands are applied in daily life, an "oral Torah" of their own must be contrived. Do abortion and mercy killing transgress the laws prohibiting murder or is it only violent action to take a life that is what it means? Does a married man commit adultery with a single woman or does the fact the Torah permits more than one wife negate that idea? Does a civil divorce suffice, or does there need to be a religious divorce as well, in order to remove the possibility of a future adulterous relationship?
For the committed Jew, there is no doubt but that we resort to our Oral Torah to determine the proper responses to these questions. Yet, somehow the non-Jew or the messianic thinks that all of the Torah's written Laws can be observed by some form of "common sense." This belief ignores all civil law legislation which has analyzed and debated these questions ad infinitum, but, nevertheless, the non-Jew or messianic Jew thinks that any question concerning the details of G-d's commands can be resolved by praying for the correct answer. The fact that each comes up with a different response as a result of praying doesn't bother them in the least!
But there is, Baruch HaShem, one obvious area of the Torah which cannot be understood either through the Written Torah itself, or through prayer, and that is the Jewish Calendar. The Jewish Calendar is 100% Rabbinic. If a Jew (or non-Jew) accepts the standard Jewish Calendar for the dating of the Jewish Festivals, beginning with Rosh Hashanah as the first day of the seventh month, that person is automatically accepting the authority of the Rabbis. And if they will accept the authority of the Rabbis -- specifically of the Pharisees who have been the true transmitters of the Torah from Sinai -- then what excuse does either the Jew or non-Jew have for denying their authority in any other area of Torah Law?
Some will say that anyone can determine with accuracy today when the new moon is. This is very true. But the moon only tells us that a new month is beginning. It does NOT tell us what month it is. The Rabbis tell us which month Tishrei is.
The Jewish calendar is based on a leap year system which inserts an extra month into some years. Thus, if a person does not recognize the second month of Adar which is RABBINICALLY inserted into a leap year, then he will believe that Rosh Hashanah (the 7th month) is a month earlier. And that miscalculation will be compounded for every rabbinic leap year he rejects!
A wonderful explanation of The Jewish Calendar appears in The Stone Edition of The Chumash, ArtScroll Series, in Parashas Bo, Exodus Chapter 12.
"The Jewish calendar is based on the moon, and it is regulated by the sun. The time span between one new moon and the next is twenty-nine days, twelve hours, forty-four minutes, and 3-1/3 seconds. Since a month must be composed of complete days, the months of the Jewish calendar alternate between twenty-nine and thirty days, so that a twelve-month year contains 354 days. Since this is eleven days less than the solar year, the solar date of Rosh Chodesh Nissan would be eleven days earlier each year, so that, for example, if it were on March 25 one year, it would be March 14 the next."
"If this calendrical pattern were to continue for many years, Nissan would fall in the winter -- but the Torah requires that Nissan be "chodesh ha-aviv," the month of springtime [generally late March and April] (Deuteronomy 16:1). To resolve this difficulty, the Jewish calendar includes the institution that is familiarly known as the 'Jewish leap year.' It consists of adding a thirteenth month to the year seven times every nineteen years, with the result that Nissan always remains in its proper season. For example, Pesach sometimes falls as early as March 31. Without a leap year, the next Pesach would fall on March 20, but thanks to the insertion of an extra month -- Adar II -- during the next year, Pesach will fall on April 19."
"The Torah provides that Rosh Chodesh can be proclaimed only by the rabbinic court, on the basis of two witnesses who testify that they observed the re-appearance of the moon. The members of such a court must have the semichah, or ordination, that was conferred by teachers upon their students, generation after generation, from the time of Moses. This requirement is derived from the word, 'lachem,' to you (Exodus 12, v. 2), which was addressed to Moses and Aaron, and from which the Sages inferred that those deciding on the new moon must have the same legal status that they had (Rosh Hashanah 22a, 25b)."
"After the destruction of the Second Temple, the level of scholarship needed to qualify for this ordination gradually ceased to exist, due to persecutions and dispersions. Had it reached a point where there was no one left who qualified for semichah, it would have been impossible to proclaim new months, and if that had happened, the Jewish calendar could not have continued. To avoid this catastrophe, in the year 4119 (358-9 C.E.) the court of Hillel II promulgated a calendar for all succeeding centuries based on the calculations that had historically been used to corroborate the testimony of witnesses to the new moon. [See also ArtScroll Mishnah Rosh Hashanah and Birchas Hachamah.]"
We must give thanks to HaShem that -- not only did He clearly identify the nation of Israel by the signs mentioned in the Torah -- but also for granting the ability of those who seek truth to know which Jews can be relied upon for the guardianship of His Words.
One can say,"Well, that's something the Jews believe and I won't accept any concept of an Oral Torah Law."
But accept the rabbis they must, for the source of understanding the Seven Noahide Commandments is found in the Talmud and later rabbinic teachings, and nowhere else. Nowhere else except in the Christian bible.
The Noahide Laws are the seven laws given to Noah and apply to Gentiles. These laws are found in the Torah as well as part of the six hundred thirteen comandments.
Acts15:17: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.
18: Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.
This is the foreword of the laws that the Jerusalem Council gave to the Gentile believers.
19: Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:
Verse 19 shows the decision of James that Gentiles are not bound to the Torah laws.This is further elaborated in verse 24,where it says "to whom we gave no such commandment" It makes one wonder how the church managed to adopt a concept that following the Torah laws was somehow abolished when the men that ate,studied and lived along side Jesus were debating whether Gentiles should convert and follow Torah or not.
20: But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
1Tim5:19: Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.
A definite reflection that it requires two or more witnesses to convict a man.In Torah law,there must be no less than two witnesses.This is part of the original 7 laws to establish courts of justice;to establish courts of law
Rom:13:9: For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
This is a reflection of what Hillel wrote 100 years prior to Paul and 40 years prior to Jesus,"What you dislike yourself,do not do unto your neighbor".It also reconfirms the Noahide laws listed below.
Eph:4:28: Let him that stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
Is the fist part of the Noahide laws
The Seven Noachide Laws
====================================
1) It is forbidden to eat a limb or any meat that was
severed from a live animal.<-- prohibition of eating blood,
Acts 15:20. But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
2) It is forbidden to blaspheme the name of G-d. <- 1 Tim 1: 20. Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme
3) It is forbidden to steal or rob.<-- Eph4:28,Rom:13:9: 9. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
4) It is obligatory to appoint judges and set up a
court of law in order to pronounce and mete out
just decisions to all mankind.<-- 1Tim5:19 19. Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.
5) It is forbidden to worship idols. <- No idols,Acts15:20, But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
6) It is forbidden to commit sexual sins
(adultery, homosexuality, bestiality).<- No fornication,Acts15:20,Rom:13:9: For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery,...
7) It is forbidden to murder a human being.Rom:13:9: For this, .....Thou shalt not kill, ..It is already established earlier that the Torah laws were not to be followed by the gentiles,yet these laws,which are the Noahide laws also contained in Torah were to be followed by the gentiles as taught by Paul.
A person could call that coincidence that the laws the Council decreed for Gentiles match up with the Noahide Laws, but then as I've pointed out in my previous post,What do you mean that's rabbinic, almost all the purported quotes of Jesus were from previous rabbinic teachings.That would be some coincidence.
If that person that chooses to deny the Oral Torah believes there is a coming Messiah from the line of David,through his son Solomon they are in fact accepting the Oral Torah Law.
"WHAT !?!?" , you might exclaim,"That guy is a sandwich short of a picnic! That's IN THE BOOK!"
Yes,it is. The Tanakh definitely says the messiah will come from the house of David through his son Solomon. The Bible also says that a Moabite or an Ammonite could never be considered a convert to become a part of Israel (Deut 23:3). This commandment however ONLY applies to males and not females.This is an Oral Law found in tractate Yevamot 76 affirmed by the authority of the Sages.Whoever rejects this authority must deny the legitimacy of King David, King Solomon and the future messiah.
Since the commandment against Moab and Ammon ONLY applied to males, Ruth the Moabitess was able to be accepted as a convert and therefore an Israelitess and become the grandmother of David and the ancestress of the coming messiah. Since Torah law states tribe is paternal and that only an Israelite female produces Israelite children ( see Ezra 10:2-3), to deny the oral law is to say Jesse,the father of David was not an Israelite and therefore his son David,though born of a Israelite mother, was Yisroel and not of any tribe.
In addition there was Naamah,an Ammonitess (1 Kings 14:21) who became the mother of Rehoboam,the son of Solomon.The bible says Rehoboam was forty-one when he began to reign. Solomon reigned for forty years,so he was born a year before Solomon became King. Solomon had married her while his father David was still alive.The future messiah will be a descendant of Solomon and most likely through Rehoboam. The messiah will therefore be descended from both Moabite and Ammonite converts. Something forbidden by the written Torah. If one doesn't accept the Oral Law concerning females of Moag and Ammon,then the words of the Prophets concerning Messiah can't be true.
Other commands not so readily understood would be:
What is the beautiful fruit that one takes in hand at Sukkot? 40 And you shall take for yourselves on the first day, the fruit of the beautiful tree, date palm fronds, a branch of a braided tree, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for a seven day period.
How does one tie the fringes that go at the corners of a garment? How many strings to make it, how do you tie the knots and how many, what is the source of the teheelet to dye the one thread?
You are commanded to do kosher slaughter yet how do you remove the blood so it is able to be eaten and what fat can you eat since the Torah states you will eat no fat? All meat has capillaries that contain blood after slaughter even when the throat is cut.All meat contains fat.
What amount of time between mixing and baking keeps matzah from being considered leavened when the leavening process starts immediately after water hits flour?
Without the explanation of the how to, you can't follow many of the written. Torah is not a do what you think is right situation.If you ask twenty people to choose the fruit you take in hand at Sukkot,you will get multiple answers, yet only one can be correct. If you deny the oral law then you have to make up your own "oral law" to be able to follow it.
Then there are what are referred to as "fences". These rabbinical established rulings are to protect the commandments from being broken. A good example is the Torah says the Passover lamb must be consumed before dawn. This command doesn't denote that it be finished at dawn,only before it. The Sages declared that it be finished around midnight.This prevents any possible way for the meal to still be eaten when the dawn comes.It changes no law of Torah,only protects it from being broken.
In fact,the Torah itself commands the establishment of these fences. Torah instructs our judges to "guard My guard" which has always been understood to mean that our sages are to set these "fences" around the Torah laws. This can be found in Leviticus 18:30, "ushmartem et mishmarti" -- the root word being shomer,to guard or protect.
Comments (13)
If I may, I have a few questions on this that would help my understanding --
First of all, isn't there some degree of subjective interpretation among the rabbis? For example, from studies I've engaged so far, I learned that "Which commandment is greater than the other?" was a common question posed to rabbis, and often two rabbis would give two different answers. This was supposedly what was behind Jesus being asked that very question later on. Is that correct? If so, is this level of subjectivity somewhat of a different topic than what you're talking about here?
Second, I read (actually on one of the links you provided me yesterday) that non-Jews who do not observe all of the laws are still considered righteous if they follow the seven Noachide Laws. I never knew that, which is very interesting. This is supposedly how Christians can still be considered righteous by Jews, given they follow the same basic laws. Is that accurate?
Please keep writing these! Very fascinating and very enlightening. Information of this kind of depth can be hard to come by for those of us on the outside.
@The_James_Blog - Hello again. The Gemmorah, comentaries in te Talmud, show various opinions. It shows the wrong one,the right one,the ambiguous one and the goe on to explain why they are right or wrong. By showing all the opinions and explaining it as such,we can understand the right concept of the subject.The correct answer to "which commandment is greater than the other?" is that we do not know,so we give each and all the same respect,honor and obedience
Any Gentile that follows the Noahide Laws is considered righteous. You might consider reading The Path of the Righteous Gentile: An Introduction to the Seven Laws of the Children of Noah (9780873064330): Chaim Clorfene, Yaakov Rogalsky.You have to ask yourself, do Christians follow these laws set forth in their book? The church doesn't teach them since the church teach's that Torah is defunct and Christianity is above the Law. Yes, a pastor may make references to the Hebrew scriptures,but their teachings don't include any value to them beyond being supposedly what was.While this may be a bit blunt, I mean no insult to anyone. When meat is prepared at your local market,it is not salted and soaked to remove the blood.Matter of fact,many products list blood as an ingredient such as scrapple,polish liver sausage and others.Hence christians do eat blood.Acts 15:20,29 and Acts21:25
The command not to eat a strangled animal is directly tied to not eating the limb of a living animal.The stun/bolt method used in non-kosher slaughter frequently leaves the animal still living when they begin to eviserate and cut it up.A strangled animal was often simply unconciencous in the old days.Acts15:20,29 and Acts 21:25
Have a cross at church that people kneel before to pray?This falls into the graven image catagory,never mind paintings of saints and Jesus,same idea. Trinity and the worship of other than God Himself is the same thing although there is the idea of shittuf, where Gentiles are permitted to have a lesser god below Hashem.Acts15:20,29
The church has driven Jews and other non-Christians from thier homes to take thier property and possessions for over 1800 years.Refer to Thou shall not steal and covet,Eph4:28,Rom:13:9: For this,..... Thou shalt not steal, .... Thou shalt not covet Now,I have heard the old standard of "They weren't real christians" yet they were the only Christians at the time,adherring to the words and proclamations of the church and leaders.
So,the church has consistantly broken the laws they were instructed to obey,almost since its inception.If as John states in 1Jn:3:4( Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law),the church transgresses these laws on purpose.According to Paul,salvation is lost due to sinning purposely,Hebrews10:26: For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
27: But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
Hence,the church has led all of its followers astray from what was taught that the Gentile believers should obey.
This is not to say there are no righteous Christian folk. Many and most do a great many good deeds and acts for their communities and fellow man.Like it says in the Kabbalistic writings,Tana DeBei Eliahu Rabbah 9: I call heaven and earth as witnesses:Any individual,whether Gentile or Jew,man or woman,servant or maid,can bring the Divine Presence upon himself in accordance to his deeds
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