Posted on 06/01/2006 9:22:51 AM PDT by Zionist Conspirator
Everyone has heard of the Talmud, the accompanying oral part of the Torah. But what is not so clear is that the Oral Torah actually preceded the written Bible we have today!
It's important to clarify a common misconception many have about the role of the Oral Torah in Judaism.
The Oral Torah is not an interpretation of the Written Torah. In fact, the Oral Torah preceded the Written Torah. When the Jewish people stood at Mount Sinai 3,300 years ago, God communicated the 613 commandments, along with a detailed, practical explanation of how to fulfill them. At that point in time, the teachings were entirely oral.
It wasn't until 40 years later, just prior to Moses' death and the Jewish people's entering the Land of Israel, that Moses wrote the scroll of the written Torah (known as the Five Books of Moses) and gave it to the Jewish people.
(Excerpt) Read more at aish.com ...
Sounds something like Sacred Tradition, which is paired with, but not identical to, the Sacred Scripture in Catholicism.
It should be added that if a teaching did not come from Moses at Sinai through teachers generation by generation, then it's not Torah.
I was witness to an exchange between a famous rabbi and a non-Jew. The non-Jew (a self-proclaimed Noahide) wanted to known if it was required that a Noahide should dress modestly.
That rabbi had never learned that specific detail from his teachers, so would not say dressing modestly was required, only that one should be rational and prudent.
It wasn't until later that he Noahide understood the care the rabbi showed in not claiming more than he had been specifically taught.
Chag Samayach!
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