Swimming in the Sea of Talmud: 7. Torah from Sinai, Revisited

§ Rav Yehuda said that Rav said: At the time that Moses ascended on High, he found the Holy Blessed One sitting and tying crowns on the letters. He said before Him: Master of the Universe, who is holding You back? He said to him: There is a man who will be after several generations, and 'Akiva ben Yosef is his name, who will to derive from every single thorn mounds and mounds of halakhot. He said before Him: Master of the Universe, show him to me. He said to him: Go backward. He went and sat at the back of the eight rows and did not understand what they were saying. His strength waned. As soon as he (Rabbi 'Akiva) arrived at a matter, his students said to him: My teacher, from where do you have it? He said to them: It is a halakhah to Moses from Sinai. His mind settled.

He returned and came before the Holy Blessed One and said before Him: Master of the Universe, You have a man like that and You give Torah through me?! He said to him: Be silent! This is what arose in the plan before me. He said before Him: Master of the Universe, You have shown me his Torah -- show me his reward. He said to him: Go backward. He went backward. He saw that they were weighing his flesh in a meat market. He said before Him: Master of the Universe, this is Torah and this is its reward? God said to him: Be silent! This is what arose in the plan before me.

(4) Although the Oral Torah was not reduced to writing, Moses our Rabbi taught it in its entirety to his court, to seventy Elders, and to Ele'azar, Pinhas and Joshua -- all the three of them received from Moses. Yet to Joshua, because he was the disciple of Moses our Rabbi, he transmitted the Oral Torah and charged him with it. So Joshua likewise continued throughout his lifetime to teach it orally.

(12) Our Holy Rabbi compiled the Mishnah. And from the days of Moses until our Holy Rabbi, no book of Oral Torah that was taught to the masses was compiled. Rather, in every generation, a head of court or a prophet in that generation, would write himself a memorandum of the oral teachings which he heard from his rabbis and would teach in public orally.

(13) So everyone would write to himself according to his ability from the exposition of the Torah and its halakhot as he had heard, and from the new matters in every generation, the dinim (legal judgments) that were not learned from oral teaching but from the 13 hermeneutical principles and which were agreed upon by the Great Court. So it always was until our Holy Rabbi.

(14) And he collected all of the oral teachings and all of the dinim, and the expositions and explanations that were heard from Moses our Rabbi and were taught by the court in every generation on the entire Torah, and from all of it he compiled the book of the Mishnah. And he taught it to the masses and it was revealed to all Israel, and everyone wrote it and disseminated it in every location, so that the Oral Torah not be forgotten among Israel.

We taught there (M. Sotah 9:9): From the time when Yosef ben Yo’ezer of Tzeredah died, and Yosef ben Yoḥanan of Jerusalem, the clusters [eshkolot] ceased. "A man who contains all" [ish shehakol bo]. And Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: All the clusters who stood before of the Jewish people from the days of Moses until Yosef ben Yo’ezer died would study Torah like Moses our Rabbi. From that point on, they would not study Torah like Moses our Rabbi.

Behold Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: Three thousand halakhot were forgotten during the days of mourning for Moses. What was forgotten was forgotten and what they studied they studied like Moses our Rabbi.

Behold it is taught: From the time when Moses died, if the majority deems impure, they deem impure, and if the majority deems pure, they deem pure. The heart was reduced. What they studied, they studied like Moses our Rabbi.