Sh'mini Atzeret "The Eighth Day of Assembly" (Part B) Feast Days - Major Festivals - The Harvest
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- Religion & Spirituality
Written Torah: “Torah she-b’ktav” The purpose and meaning of the Written Law or Torah, now codified in the Pentateuch, emanates from the Ten Commandments, which specify the covenant relationship between God and ‘Am Isra’el. The "covenant code" or the "book of the covenant" (Ex. 24:7) immediately follows the giving of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). The Covenant Code (Ex. 21:23) generally deals with civil and criminal laws, and consequently the literary form of the code takes a familiar legalistic structure. Casuistic and Apodictic There are two forms in the legal code: casuistic and apodictic. The casuistic form is found in the first section of the Covenant Code (Ex. 21:1-22:17), and the apodictic form is found in the second section (Ex. 22:18-23). The casuistic form first states a condition (the technical term for this is "protasis") and normally begins with words like "if" or "when." The protasis describes the circumstances or conditions that prompt the consequential injunctions. The second part, that is, the injunction, is called "apodosis." It contains a statement of legal consequences that may or may not begin with the word "then." Here are two examples: "When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do" (Ex. 21:7) and "If someone’s ox hurts the ox of another, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the price of it" (Ex. 21:35). Oral Torah: “Torah sh’be’al peh” The traditional interpretations of the Torah by the experts on the Torah as well as those of the Chazal (Our Rabbis of Blessed Memory), particularly after the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, became the “Torah sh’be’al peh” (Torah from the mouth), also known as unwritten or Oral Torah. The Oral Torah gained equal footing and took on the same kind of binding authority as the Written Torah. The function of the Oral Torah is to "make a fence for the Law" (Avot 1.1). The Written Torah is to be protected by keeping and observing the tradition (Oral Torah). Consequently, Judaism has been able “keep” the Written Torah merely by observing the Oral Torah. By obeying the tradition in concrete terms (no business on the Sabbath, for instance), they could observe the commandment about the Sabbath.
Written Torah: “Torah she-b’ktav” The purpose and meaning of the Written Law or Torah, now codified in the Pentateuch, emanates from the Ten Commandments, which specify the covenant relationship between God and ‘Am Isra’el. The "covenant code" or the "book of the covenant" (Ex. 24:7) immediately follows the giving of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). The Covenant Code (Ex. 21:23) generally deals with civil and criminal laws, and consequently the literary form of the code takes a familiar legalistic structure. Casuistic and Apodictic There are two forms in the legal code: casuistic and apodictic. The casuistic form is found in the first section of the Covenant Code (Ex. 21:1-22:17), and the apodictic form is found in the second section (Ex. 22:18-23). The casuistic form first states a condition (the technical term for this is "protasis") and normally begins with words like "if" or "when." The protasis describes the circumstances or conditions that prompt the consequential injunctions. The second part, that is, the injunction, is called "apodosis." It contains a statement of legal consequences that may or may not begin with the word "then." Here are two examples: "When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do" (Ex. 21:7) and "If someone’s ox hurts the ox of another, so that it dies, then they shall sell the live ox and divide the price of it" (Ex. 21:35). Oral Torah: “Torah sh’be’al peh” The traditional interpretations of the Torah by the experts on the Torah as well as those of the Chazal (Our Rabbis of Blessed Memory), particularly after the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, became the “Torah sh’be’al peh” (Torah from the mouth), also known as unwritten or Oral Torah. The Oral Torah gained equal footing and took on the same kind of binding authority as the Written Torah. The function of the Oral Torah is to "make a fence for the Law" (Avot 1.1). The Written Torah is to be protected by keeping and observing the tradition (Oral Torah). Consequently, Judaism has been able “keep” the Written Torah merely by observing the Oral Torah. By obeying the tradition in concrete terms (no business on the Sabbath, for instance), they could observe the commandment about the Sabbath.