Progressive Hebrew Faith

[Note:  While this article is from a fundamentalist Karaite perspective, it contains valuable information which essentially debunks the idea that the Orthodox Jewish Oral Law is divine in nature]

Rejection of the Oral Law From a Karaite Perspective

1) Throughout the Hebrew Bible, the word Torah (in the sense of the body/corpus of Divine Instruction) is always used in the singular. Were the Mishnah a genuine (oral) Torah, surely somewhere in the Scriptures the existence of two torot (Torahs) would have been mentioned at least once. On the other hand the Rabbanites specifically claim that there are two Torahs, the written Torah and the Oral Torah. Yet the term Torah, when meaning 'collection of divine instruction,' never appears in the plural in the entire Tenakh. All we read about in the Tenakh is a singular Torah of Moses, never the Torahs of Moses

2) Throughout the six divisions of the Mishnah there is a lack of the Biblical formula, "And YHWH spoke to Moses and Aaron." Instead in the Mishnah it is written "Rabbi so-and-so said to Rabbi so-and-so." The Mishnah is thus clearly the words of men.

3)The Tenakh reports that the written Torah was both lost and forgotten for over 50 years and only rediscovered by the Temple Priests (2Kings 22:8, 2 Chronicles 34:15). It is inconceivable that an oral law could have been remembered (it’s very large) when even the written Law was forgotten - especially since the "Oral Law" is dependent on the Written Law to derive its full meaning.

4) The Rabbis claim that the "Oral Law" was given on Mount Sinai as the official interpretation of the Torah. Yet if one actually looks at the Mishnah and Talmud they are full of the opinions of Rabbis who disagree with each other on almost every issue. The Rabbis explain that whenever there are such disagreements, "both opinions are the words of the living God." While it is possible for two learned individuals to reach differing binding conclusions, reason dictates that at least one of them is wrong. We maintain that it is unreasonable to believe that God would consistently contradict himself.

5) The Rabbis contend that the "Oral Law" was given to Moses at Mt Sinai. This is hard to believe since the Torah itself was not given in its entirety to Moses and the Israelites at Mt Sinai. Rather, it was given to the Israelites in a series of revelations over a period of 40 years in the desert. Each revelation took a form similar to that in the following verse: "And YHWH spoke unto Moses in the wilderness of Sinai in the second year of their going out from the land of Egypt in the first month saying..." (Numbers 9:1) If the Rabbis are correct this means that Moses learned the "Oral Law" and its explanation of key verses before he learned these key verses!

Textual Reasons for the rejection of the "Oral Law"

The logical objections to the "Oral Law" would be meaningless if they were not supported by sound textual evidence. Below are a few of the many examples that demonstrate that the Written Law stands alone as God's instruction to the Israelites:

1) The YHWH, Your God, will make you most prosperous . . . for YHWH will again rejoice over you for good, as He rejoiced over your father; if you shall hearken to the voice of YHWH your God, to keep his commandments which are written in this book of the Torah. (Deuteronomy 30:9-10)

2) And Moses wrote this Law, and delivered it unto the priests, sons of Levi...(Deuteronomy 31:9)

3) When all Israel is come to appear before your God in the place which he shall choose you shall read this law before all Israel in their hearing. (Deuteronomy 31:11)

4) This book of the Law (Torah) shall not depart out of your mouth; but you shall meditate therein day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein. (Joshua 1:8)

5) After that, he read all the words of the Law, the Blessing and the Curse, just as is written in the Book of the Law. There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua failed to read in the presence of the entire assembly of Israel, including the women and children and the strangers who accompanied them (Joshua 8:34-35)

This last verse could stand alone in summing up the entire Karaite argument. It explicitly states that Joshua read every single word that Moses commanded. To "read" something implies it is written down. In this case, the verse indicates that he read the text "Just as is written." Had Moses given the Israelites a second "Oral" Torah, Joshua would not have been able to "read" all the words that Moses had commanded. Furthermore, Verse 1 states that the only thing we need to do for YHWH to rejoice over us is to follow the written commandments. This negates the importance of an alleged "Oral Law." For God would not give an "Oral Law," which as the Rabbis claim is religiously binding, and then negate its importance.

Collectively these verses show that the Israelites received one law from YHWH, all of the words of the law were written so that they may be read aloud and followed by the nation of Israel to gain favor with YHWH.

RETURN TO

HOMEPAGE