Published August 26, 2010
I have been asked questions over the years by the readers of these lessons to show some background material to how at Sinai (1312 B.C.E.) halacha has been transmitted from teacher to student. This tradition has perpetuated Jewish law as the property of the Jewish people. In former years the public teachings and discussion occupied a prominent place in Jewish culture. Today, unfortunately except for a few exceptions such as Torah Tidbits, estrangement from the language of halacha has made it less accessible to the general public. My essays are an attempt to open part of the world of halacha to the Jewish layperson in the English-speaking Jewish community. It is not a comparative study nor a historical survey. I have attempted to analyze Jewish law within its own unique framework. After Sinai, for about 15 centuries, a prohibition against reducing the Oral Law to written form was scrupulously observed and halacha was transmitted from teachers to students orally. However, because of religious persecutions and dispersions, some principles of the Oral Law were either in danger of being forgotten or had been subjected to conflicting interpretations. Accordingly, it was decided to commit the Oral Law to writing. This was done in two stages. First, at approximately 200 C.E. a concise code of 63 books, known as the Mishna was redacted. The Mishna, however, because of the exceeding brevity of its contents could not convey the vast amounts of law it represented, it therefore became in turn the focal point for further exposition and elaboration known as the Talmud. The problems arising from the oral transmission affected the Talmud as well. The Talmud was therefore also reduced to writing with the Jerusalem Talmud being redacted in Israel around 350 C.E. and the Babylonian Talmud redacted in a much more extensive form about 500 C.E. The Talmud accordingly represents the authoritative final source of the halacha. All subsequent developments of Jewish law is limited to expounding, interpreting, elaborating and applying the Talmudic legal principles to relevant factual situations. The format of the Babylonian Talmud is in the style of an exposition on 37 books of the Mishna and it contains approximately 5,400 printed pages in its current format. Subsequent halachic development was carried forward by Jewish judges and scholars throughout the world. Jewish law thus emanates from three major sources: commentaries; compendiums and codes; and Rabbinic responsa. The earlier codes were generally fragmentary, dealing with limited topics. A major exception, of course, is the monumental code of Maimonides (Rambam 1135-1204) which covers every facet of Jewish law. The large compendiums of the Talmud by Alfasi (Rif 1013-1103) and Asheri (Rosh 1251-1320) are generally restricted to laws which did not lapse with the destruction of the Holy Temple in 70 C.E. The first major code dealing exclusively with currently practiced Jewish law is that of Tur (1230-1347) who organized the law into four major bodies: (1) Daily observances; (2) Ritual; (3) Marriage and Divorce; and (4) Civil Jurisprudence. More IYH in the next lesson.
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