Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site sfmag.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxn!mhuxm!sftig!sftri!sfmag!samet From: samet@sfmag.UUCP (A.I.Samet) Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish Subject: The Talmud Message-ID: <582@sfmag.UUCP> Date: Fri, 24-May-85 01:19:18 EDT Article-I.D.: sfmag.582 Posted: Fri May 24 01:19:18 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 25-May-85 00:30:30 EDT References: <411@oakhill.UUCP> <564@sfmag.UUCP> <1672@cornell.UUCP> <191@ucdavis.UUCP> <273@unc.UUCP> Organization: AT&T Information Systems, Summit, NJ Lines: 56 > I pose this question to the net: Is the Talmud an unchangeable work of God, > written down by Jewish scribes, or is it the work of men interpreting the Torah, > and thus subject to re-evaluation? Frank always has good questions. Imagine what would be if there were no court system in America. everyone would go around interpretng the laws as he liked, or saw fit, and the law would not really function as intended. Fortunately, the writers of the constitution established a judiciary branch of government. If the Torah were given without designating specific authority for its interpretation, no one could ever claim that any interpretation was authoritative. Therefore the Torah was given together with an oral law, which was transmitted via Moshe rabbeinu to the sages, ands from the sages of each generation to those of the next. Part of this written/oral package was the law which designates the Sages as the sole authorities for ruling on its interpretation. The Talmud is a record of that process of jurisprudence. The process continues, via the sages of each generations, until this day. G*d's plan was that the sages would fulfil the role of a "supreme court" (lehavdil). Such a supreme court reflects the will of G*d by FAITHFULLY explaining His Torah just as our supreme court (supposedly) explains the constitution (rather than introducing innovations which were not there.) (The sages were also given certain legislative authority, which is a separate mitzvah and issue.) We are bidden to regard their rulings as the reflection of G*d's will, and we believe that he guides them, so that we obey their rulings just as we obeyed the rulings of Moshe rabbeinu. In Moshe's time, Korach tried to undermine this process by challenging the legitimacy of Moshe's authority, arguing that everyone could interpret the Law. There have been groups throughout history who have tried to usurp authoriry from the sages who received the oral Law via a chain leading back to Har Sinai. Today, some groups and individuals try to exploit the Talmud for this purpose. They argue (as Korach did) that the oral Torah is really a work of man, and they thereby license thmeselves to rationalize whatever they want via their so-called "halakha". A key difference between the legitimate rabbis and the fakers is this: The former are committed to subjugating themselves to G*d and to a rigorous discipline of jurisprudence, while the fakers prostitute themselves to "man-centered" interests and they twist the talmud mercilessly towards those ends. Chag Sameach To All Yitzchok Samet