What Is the Purpose of the Oral Torah?

If one asked how many torot there are you would expect the answer to be one. However, we are taught by Chazal that Moshe Rabbeinu received both the written and the oral law, torah she’bichtav and torah she’be’al peh respectively, at Har Sinai beginning in Parashat Yitro. Often when we say “torah” our immediate thought is the chamisha chumshei torah, the five books of Torah. So, what exactly is the oral torah? If it’s oral then how has it been written down? 

Torah she’be’al peh, the oral law, is the explanation of the 613 mitzvot. It is not a disparate entity, but it is intricately connected and inseparable from torah she’bictav. To the point that it is written in Vayikra 26:46 “And the Torahs” – this teaches that Israel was given two Torahs, one written and one oral (Sifra, Bechukotai 12,8).

Without the oral law, we would not have all the information regarding mitzvot and issurim such as: how to shecht, what tefillin should look like, and how and when to do netillat yadayim. Even the details of marriage and divorce would be vague and unclear. So then how was the oral law passed down? 

From a simple, pshat level reading of the pessukim in the written torah, it is not possible to understand all of the mitzvot. For example, Moshe Rabbeinu’s first introduction of hilchot shmirat shabbat takes place after instructions were given regarding the building of the mishkan. It is written, “you may not burn a fire in your homes on the seventh day.” Just from this we learn about the issur, prohibition, of not lighting a fire on shabbat. However, we are acutely aware that shmirat shabbat is based on 39 av melachot, main work principles. These principles are learned by using the oral law. 

Without the oral law, we would not have all the information regarding mitzvot and issurim such as: how to shecht, what tefillin should look like, and how and when to do netillat yadayim. Even the details of marriage and divorce would be vague and unclear. So then how was the oral law passed down? 

In Shemot 34:27 Hashem instructs Moshe, “Write you these words.” In Gittin 60b, Rabbi Yishmael taught from a Braita “These” – “These you may write, but you may not write the orally transmitted laws.” Rabbi Yehuda bar Nachmani who interpreted for Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish expounds that the written must stay written, and the oral must stay oral. Shemot Rabba 47:3 explains that if one converts the oral law into a written law or vice versa, you won’t receive any reward because that is not how Hashem intended it.

Why wasn’t it simply written by Hashem then in the first place? The Tanchuma in Ki Tisa 34 explains that in the future the Greeks would have the Torah translated and try to lay claim to it. Hashem then said to them: “You say that you are my children? All I know is that those by whom My mysteries reside are my children.” What is that? It is the Mishnah that was given orally. 

Rabbi Yosef Albo, author of the “Ikkarim,” discussed the salient point that translating and writing the oral law would require endless volumes. He states, “For God’s Torah cannot be complete in such a way that it will suffice for all times, for the new particulars that constantly come into being regarding human affairs are far too many to be contained in a book. Therefore, the general rules that are briefly alluded to in the Torah were transmitted orally to Moshe at Sinai, in order for the Sages of every generation to derive therefrom the new particulars.” (Part III, chap. 23) He argues further that the oral law is in truth a method for determining halacha. Halacha is firm, but adaptable as it evolves with the times. This flexibility to creatively comprehend halacha must be from the depths of the oral law, which therefore, cannot be written down as it would tighten its parameters and reach.

The Rambam writes in his Mishneh Torah, “The mitzvot given to Moses at Mount Sinai were all given together with their explanations, as implied by (Shemot 24:12): ‘And I will give you the tablets of stone, the Torah, and the mitzvah.’ ‘The Torah’ refers to the Written Law; ‘the mitzvah,’ to its explanation. Hashem commanded us to fulfill ‘the Torah’ according to [the instructions of] ‘the mitzvah.’ ‘The mitzvah’ is called the Oral Law.”

The Rambam separates the oral law into three types of laws:

1. Laws learned from the 13 middot that the Torah is learned from, like kal v’chomer, gezeira shaveh, etc. These relate to the 39 melachot which are prohibited on Shabbat, and are learned from the written law using the 13 middot dictates in the oral law. These are generally accepted.
2. Halacha l’Moshe miSinai, i.e. details of tefillin and how to shecht. These are generally accepted.
3. Logical deductions, sometimes based on 13 middot, about which there are arguments.

After the destruction of the second Beit Hamikdash, Rabbeinu HaKadosh wrote the Mishnah down. Approximately 300 years later the Talmud Yerushalmi was developed and related the discussions and explanations on the Mishnah. One hundred years following that, the Talmud Bavli was composed which comprised lengthy discussions on many topics forming the Shas that we know today. 

Rabbeinu HaKadosh noticed with great foresight the dispersal of the Jewish people. This lack of centrality during this galut brought with it a dark time of decreased Torah study; without clear community leaders to continue the mesorah and passing down of the oral law, the proper understanding of torah and its transmission would be lost. Due to this great concern, he codified the Mishnah. Following his lead the talmud was codified as well.

The challenging question that must arise is, wasn’t it forbidden to write down the oral law? The gemara relates a story about Rabbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish. They were sitting in learning together from a book of the oral law. The gemara then emphatically states, את לעשות לה’ הפירו תורתך, שלא תשכח תורה מישראל, “Where there is a special situation, like now when people are forgetting the oral law, we may do whatever is necessary so that the Torah is not forgotten.” It was an emergency call to action because people started to forget our holy torah. 

The Torah has two essential parts and co-exist in perfect harmony; The written and the oral law. One is not complete without the other, and their roles are irreversible. The fact that the oral law was written, in fact, saved the future of the Jewish people. The Torah in its entirety must be studied with love day and night. One must use the oral torah as a tool to enhance our understanding of the written torah and come to build a deeper relationship with Hashem. It was His gift to us for eternity.