Contrary to what messianic Jews say, rabbinic Judaism is a part of biblical Judaism. In this week’s Torah portion Yitro (Exodus 18:1-20:23), the Torah is given to Moses on Mount Sinai and he transmits it to the Jewish people. With God’s permission, Moses institutes a judicial system and appoints wise judges to assist the Jews in keeping the Torah by providing guidance for “The path they shall follow and the deeds they shall do” (Exodus 18:20). This pivotal event laid the foundation for an authoritative God-given “rabbinic” tradition.
Furthermore, the Bible emphasizes the legitimacy of this rabbinic tradition with the directive, “Judges and officers you shall appoint” (Deuteronomy 16:18-20) and the statement, “It is not for man’s sake that you judge, but for God’s” (2 Chronicles 19:6).
The sages (Shabbat 23a) reference another biblical verse for following the rabbis. The verse states that the Jews should “Act according to the law they [the judges] instruct you and the judgment they tell you” (Deuteronomy 17:11).
Additionally, Maimonides (Laws of Blessing 11:3) explains that when Jews observe rabbinic commandments, they are, in fact, following God’s command to obey the decisions of properly appointed Jewish religious authorities. Maimonides also points out that blessings recited on rabbinic commandments should be understood as “God’s command” based on the authority He invested in the rabbis.
The written Torah and the rabbinic tradition have survived the test of time. For example, when archeologists unearthed a 2,000-year-old pair of tefillin and a mikvah [ritual bath] on the Judean fortress of Masada, remarkably, the dimensions matched the specifications followed today.
Judaism consists of the written Torah and the oral law transmitted by the rabbis. Both are an intricate part of God’s plan to reveal Divine spirituality in the world. By endowing man with the wisdom to apply the Torah, we become partners with God and fulfill our biblical mandate to perfect the world and infuse morality into every aspect of our lives.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Bentzion Kravitz
