We are analyzing the eighth principle of the Jewish faith (see previous halakhot here). The eighth principle includes another key element. As we all know, apart from the written Tora, we also received the Oral Tora, that is, the oral tradition that explains the written Tora.

The eighth principle assets that the Oral Tora is also of divine origin, and was transmitted by God to Moshe rabbenu.

I think Jewish Oral Tora or Oral Tradition is a fundamental issue and I believe we should spend a few days to explain it in detail. There are at least three subjects that we need to know in greater depth

1. The elements included in the Oral Tora.

2. The history of the transmission of the Oral Tora.

3. The methodology of the halakhic process. That is, how do we get from the Biblical precepts of the written Tora to the daily halakhic practice?

Let’s start with what constitutes the Oral Tora.

According to Maimonides, in his introduction to the Mishna, the Oral Tora is divided into five categories.

1. Perush (the ancient sephardic pronunciation was “pirush”). This category is also called by Maimonides “qabbala”, which does not refer to the mystical aspects of the Tora.

2. Halakha leMoshe MiSinai.

3 Dinim Muflaim.

4. Gezerot

5. Taqanot and Minhagim.

We will explain today the first category.

1. PERUSH: In the introduction to Mishne Tora Maimonides says: “Every commandment given to Moses on Mount Sinai was given together with its explanation (perush)”, this is,  the basic instructions –the definition of each commandment– which were not written by Moshe but were received and transmitted orally for generations.

Illustration: The written Tora mentions the precept of Tefilin. But the written Tora only says: “And these words which I entrust you today … you shall bind them upon your arm (or hand) … and they should be place on your forehead.”   Now, out of this short text, how would we be able to know what the Tora is referring to by commanding us to “bind words upon the hand”? How do we suppose to “bind”  words? Should we write them first? And once written, where exactly do we have to bind them?, and how? These are some of the many questions we might ask ourselves, and not be able to answer, if we would only had before us the written Tora. And we will have the same problem with absolutely all the mitsvot. Even with those commandments that seem easy to understand and fulfill.    For example, if I only had before me the words “You shall not kill”, how would I know the definition and especially the scope of this commandment? What is included and is not included in it? Does the prohibition to kill includes the killing of animals or just people? What about killing in self-defense, to stop someone from killing me? And what about euthanasia (killing a dying person who is suffering) or  abortion (is abortion considered killing?) What about “suicide” (perhaps “You shall not kill” would not include “You shall not kill yourself”), or killing in war or applying the death penalty? etc.

There is no way to know only from the text what includes and what does not include “YOU SHALL NOT KILL” .

This is why, as we explained, every biblical precept was given with its PERUSH. That is, the basic definition and description of each of the 613 commandments of the written Tora.

For instance:

The Oral Tora, the PERUSH indicates the basic way to fulfill the commandment of Tefillin:

1. Writing in small scrolls the words of the four biblical texts in which the mitsva of Tefilin is mentioned.

2. Placing these scrolls in leather boxes.

3. Performing a small hole at the end of the boxes, and introducing there leather strips.

4. Placing one of those boxes in the arm and the other box on the forehead,  adjusting the boxes with leather strips. Etcetera.

Now that we understand what the Oral Tora is,  we shall return to the eighth principle of Judaism.  The eighth principle asserts that these oral instructions were not invented by Moses or by the rabbis. Their origin is divine. They are an integral part of what we call “TORA”, and were received by Moses on Mount Sinai.

The eighth of the thirteen principles of the Jewish faith says that the Tora we have today is the same as the one given to Moshe Rabbenu (Moses) in Sinai.

Today we will explore the meticulous method used by the Sages of Israel to transmit the text of the Tora in a way that unintentional errors would be avoided.

We know that mistakes in the transmission of texts was something quite common, especially before the invention of printing.  We believe that the Sefer Tora (a Tora scroll), as we have it today, contains exactly the same words that God transmitted to Moses. The biblical text has been preserved for centuries with great care. Our sages were well aware they were transmitting a unique text: the word of God. Therefore they did not allow the possibility of having inadvertent errors in the transmission or in the process of copying from one text to another.

What did the Sages do to avoid copyists’ mistakes?

Our Scribes were called in Hebrew “Soferim”. They were the Sages responsible for copying the Biblical text from one Tora scroll to another, keeping intact the text. To understand the transmission system that our sages have used to preserve the integrity of the text, we need to learn first why were they called “Soferim”. The word “Sofer” or plural “Soferim” is a term used in reference to the individual who writes Tefillin, Mezuzot and scrolls of the Tora. But it is curious that the word “sofer” literally means “counter” (=accountant) not “writer” or “scribe” … So, why would the rabbis who copied the Sefer Tora be called Soferim? Our sages explain that they were called Soferim because “they counted all the letters of the Tora”, that is, they knew exactly how many letters the Tora has, how many letters had each Parasha has, and even how many times each of the 22 letters of the hebrew Alphabet appears in each Parasha or in the Sefer Tora. And every time they copied the text, they did not just wrote and read the words: they also counted the words and the letters they wrote, to verify the accuracy of the text and ensured that there were no more or less letters.

For example: It was known from time immemorial that the Sefer Tora, the five books of Moses, contains exactly 79,847 words and a total of 304,805 letters. The Soferim also knew, for example, how many letters each of the five books of the Tora contains: Bereishit: 78,064, Shemot: 63,529, Vayqra: 44,790, Bamidbar: 63,530, Debarim: 54,892. Thus, when a Sofer wrote a new Sefer Tora he counted the letters to make sure that nothing was missing.

A simple personal example to demonstrate how knowledge of the number of letters ensures the accuracy of the transmission of a word. My personal email is “rabbibitton@yahoo.com”. When I dictate someone the first part of my email address I always clarify that  “rabbibitton” is one word, with 11 letters. Many times people tell me that they were able to realize my last name is spelled with double “T” because I told them “11 letters”. If I had not given them the number 11, many would have written “biton”, or “rabi” if they don’t know English.

The number of letters guarantees an accurate transmission > copying of a word or a text.

The eighth principle of our faith says that the Torah we have today is the same exact Tora we received at Sinai. This principle of faith is essentially about the faith we have in our ancestors. We are completely confident that they copied and transmitted us each letter of our holy Tora with absolute fidelity and accuracy. They developed a method, counting letters, which ensures that the “chain of custody” of the world’s most important text was and is absolutely reliable.

Previously, we analyzed the Sixth principle of the Jewish faith which asserts our belief that God communicates with men through prophecy . We explained who could be a candidate to prophecy and the nature of prophecy (see here).

The Seventh Principle is also about prophecy. But it discusses the particulars of one Prophet: Moshe Rabbenu. The Seventh principle says that Moshe was the greatest prophet, and more importantly, than no man or prophet would be ever able to attain his level of prophecy.

First, we will discuss in which ways Moshe’s prophecy was higher than that of any other prophet. And second, why is relevant for us Jews to assert Moshe’s superiority.

Our Rabbis explained that the level of prophecy of Moshe Rabbenu was higher than the level of all others. For example: all other prophets received their prophetic message by the means of a vision, in a sort of trance, or in a dream. Moshe Rabbenu, however, was able to receive God’s message while conscious and awake, not in a prophetic trance. This is what the Tora calls: panim el panim, literally: “face to face”, which means that Moshe Rabbenu could listen to God’s words in the same way that a man listens to another man.

The possibility of being conscious allowed Moshe Rabbenu, first of all to be a perfect recipient of the Tora. In other words, the Tora is not Moshe’s interpretation of a prophetic vision. It is not written by Moshe by God’s “inspiration”.  We Jews believe that Moshe was indeed the writer of the Tora, but the Tora was dictated to him verbatim by God.  God talked to Moshe without any intermediation.  This way of “direct communication” which is above prophecy, was possible because Moshe was fully awake and aware while listening to God, “in full possession of his faculties, he did not receive God’s message not in visions and not by parables” ( R. Hayim Pereira Mendes)

Being awake while receiving God’s communication also allowed Moshe to talk back to God and to initiate a communication with God. Something no other prophet ever did. Although we do have texts which describe dialogues between other prophets and God, we believe that these dialogues took place in a prophetic vision, not in real life.  Moshe Rabbenu could communicate with God at will. “Whenever he wished, he could be enveloped by divine inspiration, and prophecy will descend upon him” (Yesode haTora 7:6) enabling him to be in constant contact with God.

Thus, Moshe was able, for example, to ask God a question. After the sin of the golden calf, a close encounter took place between God and Moshe. Moshe prayed to HaShem to forgive the Jewish people. At one point Moshe Rabbenu said to God: “Show me Your glory”. Our Hakhamim explained that Moshe was asking God a poignant question: “Why do You allow bad things to happen to good people?” Perhaps on behalf of all humankind, Moshe conveyed to God the question that so often troubles the mind of so many believers.  God’s answer to Moshe is a matter for a long analysis. But as it refers to our subject, God taught Moshe (and us) that the answer to that question was beyond man’s understanding (כי לא יראני האדם וחי), in other words, that this question (and other questions as well) was beyond Moshe’s comprehension. This teaches us that even the greatest prophet, Moshe, was still a limited mortal-man, not a human-god.

Now, why is so important to emphasize that Moshe’s Prophecy was superior to that of any other  prophet, in the past or in the future?

Because, the Tora was given to us through Moshe’s intermediation. And, as we will learn in the next principle, the Tora is eternal and unchangeable.  Conceiving that another prophet might ever achieve the level of Moshe Rabbenu, would open the possibility for considering that our Tora could be ח”ו changed or challenged by such a prophet, as biblical other religions claim.

The Prophets of Israel were exceptional human beings, called by God to inspire the Jewish people to return to God and His law. In order to be credible preachers, the Prophets had to be role models individuals, possessing an extremely refined character.

Maimonides explains that not every person could become a prophet. There were three key character-traits which were a prerequisite to become a candidate to prophecy and eventually, if God’s so wished, to be called by Him (=prophecy).

An individual who wished to be called by God had to be strong, wealthy and wise.

“Strong” is a person with the ability to control himself, his body, his appetites and the words he or she utters form his mouth. The highest level of strength is achieved when an individual is also able to control his emotions and thoughts.  ‘Strength’ is not measured by the ability to control other people, but by the ability to overcome one’s own impulses and appetites.

“Wealthy” is the person who feels that he or she already possesses all the material things he needs. In Judaism, wealth is not measured by quantity but by contentment and appreciation. One person could feel wealthy with 100 dollars, because he does not need more than a 100 dollars, while another person would be considered “poor” even if he has 1 billion, if he needs or wants to have 2 billion dollars. Richness is not measured by what onehas but by what one needs. The correct formula is not: the more you have the richer you are, but the less you need the richer you are.

“Wise”, is not the person who thinks that knows everything, but the one who is constantly growing in his or her thirst to know more. “Jewish Wisdom” focuses particularly in knowing more about God, His wisdom and His will. As our life’s experience become richer, we get to discover new levels of understanding on matters we thought we already knew. The knowledge of God and God’s way is obviously endless.  Jewish wisdom is the opposite of intellectual stagnation.

These are the three prerequisites for a person to aspire getting prophecy. Besides being a God fearing Jew, the prophet had to adjust his mind to God’s reality, leaving aside the conventional  worldly reality. Being “behaviorally” wealthy, for example, meant that a person had to reach a level of complete lack of interest for material possessions. A mind that expects to receive God’s words could not be distracted with material pursuits.

Paraphrasing rabbi Hayim Pereira-Mendes: “The prophets were prayerful men. It was the habit of this spiritual communication with God, and constant meditation upon His words and ways, combined with right conduct, that qualified the inspired men and women of the Bible to receive Divine inspiration or Divine messages. Just as physical and mental exercise result in greater physical and mental development, and consequently greater physical and mental possibilities, so spiritual exercises result in greater spiritual development, and consequently greater spiritual possibilities.”

According to our tradition there were schools for the training of prophets, like the one established by Shemuel one of the earliest prophets. These apprentices were called bene hanebi-im.  In that school they would train to attain behavioral wealth, strength and wisdom and, according to some Geonim, they will also train themselves in meditation techniques, which would mentally prepare them  to cope with the overwhelming experience of getting a vision coming directly from HaShem.(If the reader is interested in the fascinating subject of prophecy, I would recommend Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, z’l, marvelous book  Inner Space: Introduction to Kabbalah, Meditation and Prophecy ).

If a person attained such a perfection of character, he will be considered a candidate for Prophet, but he or she would not necessarily receive prophecy.  From this point of view ,prophecy could be compared with getting a phone call from God. And having attained perfection of character is like having a cell phone. It enables you to be a potential receiver of God’s phone call. But still, God might or might not call you. That is His prerogative.

Dedicated to the memory of IDF Capt. Ishay Rosales, 23 years old, z”l

Dedicated to the memory of IDF Capt. Ishay Rosales, 23 years old, z”l

Pharaoh continues his inflammatory speech:

הבה נתחכמה לו: “The Jews are smart, let us outsmart them” The Jews had a reputation for being smart, studious, a people who appreciate the value of education. Pharaoh does not deny this. But in his anti-Semitic rhetoric Pharaoh “demonize” the intelligence of the Jews and presents it as a kind of negative and evil “cunning” which will eventually lead them to betrayal.

ונוסף גם הוא על שונאניו ונלחם בנו ועלה מן הארץ

“They will join our enemies, they will fight against us and abandon the land”.   Pharaoh’s speech is a typical demagogic discourse of a dictator. Note that Pharaoh does not address his court or his cabinet (‘abadav) as he does when threatened by the plagues. He speaks directly to the people (on national TV).

Now let’s talk about Yosef’s Emuna. There is a fundamental difference between Yosef and his ancestors. While HaShem spoke directly with Abraham, Isaac and Ya’aqob, He never spoke “directly” to Yosef.  On the other hand we see that HaShem was very close to Yosef. The Tora tells us (Gen. 39:23) that thanks to His Divine intervention Yosef prospered in all his endeavors ואשר הוא עושה ה ‘מצליח.

Now, what did Yosef do to merit having HaShem near him, if God did not speak directly with him?

HaRambam, Maimonides describes a simple but very profound way to ensure that we are always under HaShem’s radar. Maimonides says that HaShem is as close to us as we are to Him. When we think of God and we make Him present, His Presence,  כביכול gets “synchronized” with our thoughts of Him.

And this is exactly what happened to Yosef. In all circumstances in which he lived, Yosef had HaShem always in his mind.

Yosef made HaShem present when he was provoked by Potiphar’s wife (Gen. 39: 9). As explained by our Hakhamim, Yosef saw a vision of his father, who reminded him that what could potentially happen with Potiphar’s wife, would not be correct in the eyes of HaShem.

In the worst moments of his life, when he was imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, and with no logical hope of getting out, Yosef did not forsake HaShem. Many people probably would had not persisted in their Emuna in a similar situation. Why? Because when someone is really bad, especially when one is the victim of an injustice, one might think that HaShem abandoned him, or that God does not exist, ח”ו. But Yosef persevered. He had HaShem present in those moments and he did not stop thinking about HaShem and mentioning him (40: 8).

When Yosef sees that his time of glory was coming, when he effectively interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams, he also mentioned HaShem (Gen. 41:32). Any other person would have probably boasted of possessing a great wisdom and superpowers. But Yosef did not. He attributed to HaShem the dream’s interpretation.

And when Yosef finally got to the highest position, he also continued to think about God. HaShem was present in his mind and in his words when he forgave his brothers (50: 19,20). This is probably the most important achievement of a person of faith, remembering HaShem when one is rich and healthy. Many people fail in the challenge of wealth and welfare. They forget HaShem in those circumstances because they feel that now, they do not need God anymore in their lives, ח”ו.  Our Hakhamim warned us about this phenomenon when they told us that  “the challenge of wealth (remembering HaShem when one is rich) is more difficult than the challenge of poverty גדול נסיון העושר מנסיון העוני.

Now we can better understand why the Tora says that God was with Yosef. HaShem was with Yosef because Yosef had HaShem in his mind at all times. We also learn from Yosef that if we ever feel that Hashem is far from us, it is surely because we have moved away from Him.

Today we return to Yosef. Last week we said that Yosef’s success depended on haShem’s help (כל אשר הוא עושה ה’ מצליח) but also on the impeccable moral behavior of Yosef, which earned him the Divine help. We already talked about Yosef’s patience, his self-esteem, his proactivity and his ability to see the future from a Jewish perspective, as a dimension open to possibilities that we ourselves can create.

There is another feature of Yosef, perhaps the least unknown, that brought Yosef to succeed: his integrity.

Yosef’s integrity is implicitly or explicitly manifested in at least three cases

Yosef was bought by Potiphar as a slave. Shortly after being in Potiphar’s house, Potiphar assigns him as the administrator of his estate. The Tora says that Potiphar (Gen. 39: 6) “… left everything he owned in the hands of Yosef, and Yosef did not have to give him any reports of anything …”. Potiphar had total trust in Yosef. What did Potiphar see in Yosef that led him to appoint him as his administrator? It was very common for slaves to steal. The rabbis said in Pirqe Abot מרבה עבדים מרבה גזל “the more workers at home, the higher the rate of robberies the employer will suffer”. Domestic workers felt that their pay was never enough, and thought that it was their right to take whatever they wanted from their employers, as a just compensatory act. Yosef obviously behaved with an uncommon honesty, which was identified by Potiphar and made Potiphar promote Yosef as his manager. Rabbi Eliezer Papo, z “l, says in his wonderful book Pele Yoets that honesty is the key to professional and commercial success, because sooner or later the honest person acquires a reputation that becomes its greatest asset and his more important credit report (and vice versa).

As we know, Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce Yosef. For a young man with not family and alone, the affection of a woman was not only a matter of instincts but also, or above all, the fulfillment of an emotional need. But Yosef contained himself. He was not carried away by his physical or emotional needs and instincts. Yosef guided himself by the moral principles he learned from Ya’aqob, his father. The Rabbis already warned us that there are two very sensitive areas, in which many people fall, and therefore we must redouble our efforts to overcome them. First, the area of financial integrity (גזל), and second the area of sexual behavior (עריות). This is not new: we permanently hear in the news how people of all social levels and even (or especially) individuals in prominent political positions, fell in disgrace because of matters related to economic corruption or improper sexual behavior. Yosef gives us a great example of moral integrity and loyalty.

We all think that Joseph is called “tsadiq” (a righteous man) because he refused the advances of Potiphar’s wife. This year I heard from Rabbi Hayim Sabato ( you can listen to his class, in Hebrew here) that additionally (or mainly) we should consider Yosef as a great tsadiq because of his ability to forgive. When he finally reveals his identity to his brothers Yosef did not express any accusation, and said nothing about blame. He forgave them and tried to comfort them. In an incredible display of moral magnanimity Yosef told his brothers. 45: 6 “And now, grieve no more, and do not feel bad with yourself … because in the end, it was to save lives that God sent me before you came here.” 45: 8 “It was HaShem not you, Who sent me to Egypt.” Yosef tells his brothers not to feel guilty. That they were actually a tool Hashem used to save millions of lives from starvation. It would have been so natural and expected for someone who suffered so much to express a minimum reproach, a small oral and emotional revenge, something that would make his brothers feel bad or responsible for what they did… But Yosef did not do that. Yosef only thought to comfort his brothers, because they felt so guilty.

Rabbi Sabato explains that sometimes a person can be a great “tsadiq” in the religious area, while when facing a social situation (בן אדם לחברו) this person may not act with the same greatness and altruism. Yosef, we are shown, had a comprehensive impeccable character, he was loyal to HaShem and nobel to his peers. All these attributes made Yosef attain his great and unique title, Yosef haTsadiq, “Yosef, the righteous, the man of integrity”.