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From: mls@ittvax.ATC.ITT.UUCP (Michael Schneider)
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish
Subject: Re: A query to "Dvar Torah"
Message-ID: <497@ittvax.ATC.ITT.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 21-Oct-85 08:20:18 EDT
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Posted: Mon Oct 21 08:20:18 1985
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Gary asked a key question regarding the Torah given to Moses on Mount Sinai vs
a Torah written over a period of years (with the first, second, third,... nth 
editing).  In understanding the Torah, using textual analysis, there are
specific assumptions.  

1. The Torah was given to Moses on Mount Sinai and contains the same words
   today.
2. Each word in the Torah has meaning.  To understand the Torah, one must try 
   to determine why a word, phrase, or verse exists. 
3. One must be able to examine and compare similar constructions to determine
   meaning.

This approach, which I sometimes use (although the fine points of Biblical
grammar somtimes elude me), requires the baseline of an absolute text, not
one that was edited and rewritten.  This question leads to a more important
one: the mitzvot.  For Jewish law to be valid (and I follow the opinion that it
is valid), then it must also have a strong foundation: the Torah (both written
and oral).  It is this that separates Orthodoxy from the rest; that the
Torah was the baseline from the time it was given, is the baseline, and will
continue to be the baseline in the future.

Michael L. Schneider

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