In recent discussions with fellow believers in Yeshua (Jesus), it became apparent that my mention of “Oral Torah” in the Apostolic Scripture (New Testament) was a new idea for them. Further talks with others confirmed the idea of “Oral Torah” was not a topic of discussion in mainline teaching on the life of Yeshua.
Before we go too far into this, let me define the terms “Written Torah” and “Oral Torah.”
Written Torah consists of the first five books of the Hebrew Scripture, known as Torah in Hebrew and the Pentatuech in Greek. The word “Torah” means instruction/teaching or direction and should not be translated “law,” since that gives the wrong impression.
Written Torah is the instructions for life that Moshe wrote down as he was given the Torah on Mount Sinai.
Oral Torah is Torah taught by speaking that grew up around the Written Torah as means of explaining or clarifying the Written Torah.
During the time of Ezra, Oral Torah began to take off, although, by definition, it was not committed to writing, or else it would no longer be oral.
The purpose of Oral Torah was to build a fence around the written Torah to make sure no one violated the Written Torah. Over time, the Oral Torah took on more importance and authority than the Written Torah, although the progression happened over many years.
By the time of the First Century, when Yeshua walked the earth, Oral Torah was in full swing with many discussions and debates percolating among the various factions and sects.
Eventually, the Oral Torah was written and codified in the Talmud (after the time of Yeshua), with claims to being given at the time of the Written Torah.
Many Christians seem unaware of Oral Torah and how much of the Synoptic Gospels focus on Yeshua’s interaction with those who wanted to find out Yeshua’s opinion on the current theological debates of Oral Torah.
With regard to Written Torah, it’s my conviction that Yeshua never violated one commandment. Yeshua was a meticulous observer of the Written Torah.
On the issue of Oral Torah, we have a different story. Yeshua spoke favorably of some Oral Torah and adamantly opposed some Oral Torah based on two primary criteria.
First, did the Oral Torah set aside or undermine the authority of Written Torah? In other words, He opposed Oral Torah that did an “end run” around the Written Torah.
Secondly, Yeshua opposed Oral Torah that created a burden that the common man couldn’t begin to carry.
Now for an example of Oral Torah that Yeshua accepted and one that He rejected.
The written Torah commanded those who farmed the land to make sure a percentage of their crops (tithe/10th) were donated to the Temple to take care of the priests along with the poor, widow and ophan.
There were several commands to farmers to make sure no one went hungry in Israel. All of the Written Torah commands dealt with crops that a farmer had planted and harvested with his own hands.
The Written Torah did not address whether one should give a tithe of harvested produce that grew wild in areas of public domain.
The Oral Torah came along and commanded that, if one benefitted from that which grew wild, they should tithe on it — and Yeshua agreed.
Dill, mint and cummin grew wild in areas along the road where many had access to those spices (see Matthew 23:23; Luke 11:42).
Applying the aforementioned criteria to this issue, one can see that tithing on crops growing wild did not undermine the Written Torah, nor did it create a burden the average man couldn’t carry.
Now for an example of Oral Torah that Yeshua rejected.
The Written Torah commanded one to “honor your father and your mother.” For those who had moved out of their father’s house, that meant making sure mom and dad were taken care of in their later years.
The Oral Torah proposed one could donate money to the Temple (called Korban) and then receive the money back after mom and dad had died.
It was a win-win for the Temple, and for the children, but it left the parents to fend for themselves at a time when they needed help.
Yeshua denounced that Oral Torah, as He saw it as violation of the commandment to honor one’s parents (see Mark 7:8-13).
Without a proper understanding of Oral Torah and the issues that were swirling in the First Century, much of the Apostolic Scripture will not make sense.
Yeshua was constantly aware of the Oral Torah issues that were being discussed all around Him. If we, followers of Yeshua, are not aware of the myriad Oral Torah debates that were happening all around Yeshua, we are not in a position to really understand a great deal of His teaching.
Readers who want to know more about research in this area can contact me at the e-mail address listed below.
Some readers have contacted The Peninsula Gateway curious about Brent Emery’s reference to God in his On Faith column.
The following is an explanation from www.jewfaq.org:
“Judaism does not prohibit writing the Name of God per se; it prohibits only erasing or defacing a Name of God. However, observant Jews avoid writing any Name of God casually because of the risk that the written Name might later be defaced, obliterated or destroyed accidentally or by one who does not know better ... Normally, we avoid writing the Name by substituting letters or syllables, for example, writing ‘G-d’ instead of ‘God.’ ”
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