Why do we have the oral torah?

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amother

Orchid

Sun, Nov 25 2018, 8:33 am

and why didn't hashem simply include everything in the written torah?

mommish613

Sun, Nov 25 2018, 9:23 am

It’s been a while since I was in school and learned about this topic but I believe the point of oral Torah was to perpetuate the cycle of the one to one teaching of a Rebbi to his student with a direct link from Moshe Rabbeinu (until there was a gezaiara to have it written down so it wouldn’t be forgotten).

amother

Mistyrose

Sun, Nov 25 2018, 9:27 am

Practically, there's no way that a Torah given 3500 years ago could address issues that hadn't yet arisen.

Philosophically, it seems Hashem wants human (male) input into how His will can be translated into human (male and female) experience.

mommish613

Sun, Nov 25 2018, 9:31 am

amother wrote:

Practically, there's no way that a Torah given 3500 years ago could address issues that hadn't yet arisen.

You lost me at this. Written or Oral Torah doesn’t change to address issues with time

PinkFridge

Sun, Nov 25 2018, 9:49 am

I know I've learned a lot of ideas about this but this is the one that is clearest in mind is the mesorah one: that this will ensure the faithful transmission from one generation to the next.

moonmama

Sun, Nov 25 2018, 9:54 am

Would you want to be operated on by a doctor who learnt everything from textbooks? Even the oral torah was written in such a way that you need a teacher to help you understand it. If Hashem had simply given us an enormous text people would interpret it differently according to their own views, assuming they even bothered to read it properly. By keeping the transmission of mesorah oral, people need to study in the academies with rabbi’s who themselves received the mesorah from the previous generation of rabbis.

Ravenclaw

Sun, Nov 25 2018, 10:03 am

My husband explained to me why a lot of meforshim aren’t clear and require explanation themselves (I know this isn’t your original question, but even Gemara which is oral Torah cannot be taken at face value.)
Basically these tzaddikim were so smart and pure that they assumed the meaning of their words would be obvious to whoever read them. Like when a genius tries giving a “simple” explanation and no one can follow.

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