The Oral Torah

(1) Moshe received the Torah from Sinai and transmitted it to Yehoshua, and Yehoshua to the Elders, and the Elders to the Prophets, and the Prophets transmitted it to the Men of the Great Assembly. They said three things: Be deliberate in judgment, raise up many disciples and make a fence for the Torah.

) "These are the statutes and the judgments and the teachings": "the statutes": These are the midrashoth; "and the judgments": These are the laws; "and the Toroth": This teaches us that two Toroth were given to Israel, one written, and one, oral. "which the L–rd set forth between Himself and the children of Israel": Moses merited becoming the messenger between Israel and their Father in heaven, (viz.) "on Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses": We are hereby taught that the (entire) Torah — its halachoth, inferences, and interpretations — was given by Moses at Sinai.

(3) The commandment, which is the explanation of the law, he did not write. But [instead] he commanded to the Elders [of Israel], to Joshua and to the rest of all of Israel, as it is written: "All this word which I command you, that shall ye observe to do." (Deuteronomy 13:1) And because of this it is called the Oral Law.

(4) Even though the Oral Law was not written, Moshe our Teacher taught all of it [the law] in his Bet Din to the seventy elders. And Elazar, Pinchas and Yehoshua - [these] three received [the Law] from Moshe. And Yehoshua who was a student of Moshe our Teacher, he [Moshe] transmitted the Oral Law to him and instructed him in it. And likewise Yehoshua taught it all the days of his life.

(1) Know that each commandment that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave to Moshe, our teacher – peace be upon him – was given to him with its explanation. He would say to him the commandment and afterward tell him its explanation and content; and [so too with] everything that is included in the Book of the Torah. And the manner of its teaching to Israel is as it is said (Eruvin 54b – in Chapter 5),

(12) And afterward all the people went to teach – each person his neighbor – all that they heard from the mouth of Moshe – and write that commandment in scrolls. And the officers would circulate to all of Israel to teach and correct, until [the people] knew the commandment by heart and became accustomed to reading it. And afterward, they taught them the explanations of that commandment that was given from God – and that explanation would include [many] matters. And they would write the commandment and study [it] according to the received tradition.

(13) And so [too] did our rabbis, may their memory be blessed, say in a bereita (Sifra, Behar), "'And God said to Moshe at Mount Sinai [with regards to the sabbatical year]' – and was not the whole entire Torah said form Sinai? Rather it is to tell you [that] just like [the law of] the sabbatical year was stated with its general principles and its details and its inferences from Sinai, so too were all the commandments, with their general principles and their details and their inferences, from Sinai."

(14) And behold for you an example: When the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moshe, "You shall live in booths seven days" (Leviticus 23:42);

(15) afterward, He made known that this booth is an obligation on males [and] not on females, and that sick people are not obligated in it, nor are wayfarers;

(16) and that it only be covered with that which grows from the ground, and that he should not cover it with wool or silk or vessels – even from that which grows from the ground – for example, comforters and pillows and clothes.

(17) And he made known that eating and drinking and sleeping in it is all an obligation; and that its space should not be less than seven finger-breadths long on seven finger-breadths wide, and that the height of the booth not be less than ten finger-breadths.

(18) And when the prophet, peace be upon him, came, this commandment and its explanation was given to him. And so [too, with all of] the six hundred and thirteen commandments – they and their explanations – the commandment in writing, and the explanation orally.

(19) 'And it was in the fortieth year in the eleventh month,' on Rosh Chodesh (the first day of) Shevat, [that Moshe] gathered the people and said to them, "The time of my death has arrived; and if there is from [among] you someone who heard a law and forgot it, he should come to me and ask me, and I will elucidate it. And anyone who has a doubt about a question, he should come, and I will explain it to him," as it is stated (Deuteronomy 1:5), "Moses undertook to expound this Torah, saying."

(20) And so did the sages say in the Sifrei, Devarim 1:5, "Anyone who forgot a law, let him come and review, and anyone who needs an explanation, let him come and [have it explained]." And they took elucidations of the laws from his mouth and studied the explanations all of that time – from Rosh Chodesh Shevat until the seventh of Adar.

The Sages taught: There was an incident involving one gentile who came before Shammai. The gentile said to Shammai: How many Torahs do you have? He said to him: Two, the Written Torah and the Oral Torah. The gentile said to him: With regard to the Written Torah, I believe you, but with regard to the Oral Torah, I do not believe you. Convert me on condition that you will teach me only the Written Torah. Shammai scolded him and cast him out with reprimand. The same gentile came before Hillel, who converted him and began teaching him Torah. On the first day, he showed him the letters of the alphabet and said to him: Alef, bet, gimmel, dalet. The next day he reversed the order of the letters and told him that an alef is a tav and so on. The convert said to him: But yesterday you did not tell me that. Hillel said to him: You see that it is impossible to learn what is written without relying on an oral tradition. Didn’t you rely on me? Therefore, you should also rely on me with regard to the matter of the Oral Torah, and accept the interpretations that it contains.

(2) It is a mandatory commandment to cleave to the wise and their disciples, in order to learn of their deeds, even as it is said on the subject: "And to Him shalt thou cleave" (Deut. 10.20). Is it possible to cleave to the Shekinah? But even thus the wise men commented upon in interpreting this commandment, saying: "Cleave to the wise men and their disciples" (Ketubot, 111b). Man shall, therefore, find the necessary means to take to wife the daughter of a disciple of the wise, and to give his daughter in marriage to a disciple of the wise; to eat and drink with the disciples of the wise, to do business for and with the disciples of the wise, and to associate with them in every form of companionship, even as it is said, "And to cleave to him" (Deut. 11.22). Even so have the wise men commanded, saying: "Sit amidst the dust of their feet, and drink their words with thirst" (Pirke Abot. 1.4.).