by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman | Aug 15, 2008 | Intermediate
So an institution was established just to adjudicate differences of opinion among sages so as to determine the ultimate Halacha, and it was termed the Sanhedrin. The Torah spoke of its prototype at a certain point, when Moses was apparently overburdened by the number...
by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman | Aug 8, 2008 | Intermediate
Ramchal makes the point that our sages “had a tradition that the ideas included in the (oral) tradition were hinted at in the Written Torah in different ways”, and he offered that they knew as well that “G-d wanted them to involve themselves in the...
by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman | Aug 7, 2008 | Intermediate
The essential thing to understand, as Ramchal puts it, is that “the key laws involved in both the imperatives and prohibitions (i.e., mitzvot we’re to fulfill and sins we’re to avoid) were all handed down from Moses”. That is, the overall...
by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman | Jul 25, 2008 | Intermediate
Some reject the notion of the Torah’s oral tradition for other, text-based reasons, as when the written text seems to differ from the traditional understanding of it or when the two seem to contradict each other. Others are bothered by more illusive...
by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman | Jul 18, 2008 | Intermediate
Before we see how Ramchal depicts the dynamics behind the Oral Torah, let’s delve into the idea of an oral traditio n a bit more just to bolster its authenticity to those who still doubt. We know for certain that there have been oral traditions among various...
