Sinai to Cyberspace - 5780

Lesson 1: Bridging the Gap
The Torah from Sinai

When did customs begin?
Sinai Prophets Mishna Talmud Rambam Karo
2448
(1312 BCE)
5330
(1570)
4895
(1135)
4260
(500)
3948
(188 CE)
2488-3448
(1272-312)
2500 3000 550045003500 50004000
5766
(2006)
Cyberspace

3,300 years ago!
 Observing shiva
and making sheva
brachot were
customs established
as rabbinic law by
Moshe

Dirah Betachtonim
 Torah was not
just given to
convey
information;
but to transform
the person and
the world.

Bringing Heaven down to Earth
RECEIVED DERIVED LEGISLATED

B R D
How many words can you make?

A list of possible words
“bard,” bared,” bird,” “braid,”
“broad,” “brood,” board,
”bread,” beard,” buried, ”brad,”
bred,” breed,” bored,
”bride, “ also “aboard,” and
“abroad.”

to an idol

to G-d

Shivim

Sh’vuayim

Fat

Milk

A woman without her man is nothing.
Punctuation Exercise
A woman, without her man, is nothing.
A woman! without her, man is nothing.

who were coming

who came

Where is it written?
 “Slaughter as I have
commanded.”
- Deut. 12: 21

Second Amendment
 “A well regulated Militia, being necessary
to the security of a free State, the right
of the people to keep and bear Arms,
shall not be infringed. “ - U.S.
Constitution

The Second Amendment
 “A well regulated
Militia, being
necessary to the
security of a free
State, the right of the
people to keep and
bear Arms, shall not
be infringed. “ - U.S.
Constitution
“I get the 10
Commandments.
But what is this 2nd
Amendment he
keeps talking
about?”

Torah Cliff Notes
 The written Torah is like
a set of lecture notes:
you can't understand
what they mean unless
you've been to class.
The Torah

How many differences are there?
 “Do not eat meat and milk.”
•“Do not cook a Gedi in
its mother’s milk”

How many differences are there?
“Do not cook a Gedi in its mother’s milk”
“Do not eat meat and milk.”
1 “Do not cook” vs.“Do not eat”
2 “Gedi” instead of “meat”
3 “Mother’s milk” instead of
“milk”

Word Find
The milk from a dead cow is excluded
from the prohibition.
Mother’s
Milk
Pig, Deer and Birds excluded.Gedi
The fat of the animal is prohibited.Gedi
Prohibited only when cooked together.Do Not
Cook
It is forbidden to cook.Do Not
Cook
LawsWords

Kosher Soda
 The personnel at
the plant balked at
the idea.

I n t r o d u c t i o n
1. How is it possible for an
Oral Tradition to be
transmitted accurately over
a great many years?
2. Why is there so much
disagreement in the
Talmud? Someone must be
wrong.
3. Didn’t all of the Oral Law
come from the Rabbis?
After all, Moses wasn’t told
about Purim on Mt. Sinai!
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5

“Functional Telephone”
tsgl h2m2d & fotw

Try This One On For Size
“gcd x4 S&H”

Category Lesson
Multiple
Opinions
Received 3 Never
Derived 4 Sometimes
Legislated 5 Sometimes
R – D - L

Received

Received
The portions are:
1) Written with black ink
2) .. on the side of the
parchment that faces
the flesh
3) Covered with a lining
4) Wrapped with hair
5) 4 boxes, 4 parshiyot

Derived
Laws + Principles
= New Laws
4 X 4=16 8 X 2=16

Legislated

Review
1. Received: the undisputed laws
and principles that we received on
Mt. Sinai.
2. Derived: Directives on dealing
with cases not directly
communicated at Sinai.
3. Legislative: The mandate to
enact Rabbinic legislation as
necessary – though the specific law
was never actually said at Sinai.

Received from Sinai
 Without the
explanation of
the Oral Torah,
we would have
no idea of how
to perform these
mitzvot.
What’s a
Totafot?

Undisputed
 Concerning the
“Received” laws and
principles, there have
never been - nor can
there ever be – any
disagreement among
the Sages about them.
“The fruit of a goodly tree
- Leviticus 23

“And write them on the doorposts
(of) your house and your gates”
1. What words will you
write?
2. Where exactly will you
write it?
3. What will you write on?
4. What will you use to
write?
5. How else could these
words be interpreted?

You shall afflict your souls.
“They will enslave them
and afflict them for
400 years.”
“A widow or an orphan,
do not afflict”

“An eye for an eye”
“There never existed an
argument about the
basic interpretation of
the verses of the
Torah.”

How was it originally given?
Every commandment that G-d gave to Moses
was given together with its explanation.

Derive Carefully
Devise your own examples of:
 Kal Vechomer (Day Off)
 Binyan Av (Bulletin Board)
 Kelal Uperat (Kitchen)
 Davar Halamed Me’inyano (Pints)

Who gave the Sages the
ability to legislate new laws?
 And you shall safeguard My safeguards. (Lev. 18:30)
 According to the Torah that they instruct you
and the laws they tell you, shall you do. You
shall not deviate from the word they shall tell
you, neither right nor left (Deut. 17: 8-11)
 The 312th prohibition is that we are forbidden
from disagreeing with the Sages who pass
down the Oral Tradition (may they rest in
peace), or from deviating from any of their
instructions in Torah matters (Maimonides, Sefer Hamitzvot,
N312)

C. Varying Opinions
1. How did they come about?
2. Why is there an unclear system?
3. How is the law determined?

“Let your brother live with
you.”
One water bottle
Two people
??

“Pri eitz hadar”
(Sukkah 35a).
1) “fruit” and “tree” are next to each other - to
indicate that it must be the fruit of a tree
whose bark tastes like its fruit
2) “hadar” can be read, “that dwells”; it is a fruit
that dwells in the tree from year to year, which
can only be an etrog
3) “hadar” is similar to the Greek “hydor”
(meaning water) – i.e. a fruit that grows on
much water – i.e. an etrog

Practical Ramifications
 Hydroponic etrog?

Lesson Five
Legislated
Initiated by the people
Initiated by the Sages
Power of the People
Gezeirot – Prohibitions
Takanot – Enactments
Minhagim – Customs

Authority to prohibit
Biblical prohibition Rabbinical prohibition
“And you shall safeguard my safeguards”
(Lev. 18:30)

Deuteronomy 17:11
Received
You shall not deviate from the
word they shall tell you neither
to the right nor left.
Legislated
According to the Torah that
they instruct you…
Derived
…and the laws that they tell
you shall you do…

Enact new measures
“According to the Torah that they instruct you.”
Rabbinical enactment
Shevarim AND Teruah
Biblical commandment
Shevarim OR Teruah

Central Rabbinic Authority
Revelation
at Sinai
2448
(1312 BCE)
4260
(500CE)
3948
(188 CE)
2500 3000 3500 4000
Compilation
of the
Mishna
Sealing
of the
Talmud
1,500 YEARS

Chanukah Blessing:
“Blessed are you, L-rd, our G-d, King of
the universe who has sanctified us with
His commandments and commanded us
to kindle the Chanukah lights.”to listen to those who commanded us

Think-Pair-Share
Chupah
Ring
Breaking
the glassKetubah
Witnesses
BrideGroom
Wine
Think about a Jewish wedding ceremony. What is the
most meaningful & beautiful parts of the ceremony?

Write-Pair-Share
Write down three of the
most memorable parts of
the Passover Seder:

Restrictions:
1. Must be clear it’s
only Rabbinic
2. Must be accepted
by the public
3. Cannot nullify an
earlier decree
unless this court
is “greater”

2. Must be accepted by the public
After the destruction of the
Temple in Jerusalem
Sages wanted to prohibit:
Meat Wine

3. Reversing an earlier court
Talmud
A later court cannot nullify a previous decree unless
it is greater than the previous one.
Maimonides
Mishna

Generational Decline
Mishna, Kodshim:
11 tractates,
91 chapters!
5 books of Moses:
5,845 verses,
79,976 words!
Times of the Talmud:
Review lessons 100 times!

Examples of “Takanot”
Ketubah
contract
Prayer
liturgy
Shabbat
candles
Grace after
meals
Shivah
Make
sure
to buy
enough
Matzah!
Holiday
review

Examples of “Gezeirot”
“Muktzeh”
Exposed to
dangerMilk & chicken
Laws of “Yichud”
Bathing on Shabbat

Examples of “Minhagim”
Dipping at
the Seder
“Kitniyot”
Gefilte Fish
Latkes fried in oilEating Hamantashen

Relativism vs. Absolute Truth
Auguste Comte
Everything is
relative—that’s
the only absolute
principle!

What is the point of the mitzvot?
1. For our benefit
2. Connection with G-d
3. Bridge the gap
between body and
soul
4. Bringing Moshiach
5. The Importance of
Details

Instructions
 G-d who designed and created us, also
provides us with the User's Manual to
ensure that we properly fulfill our function.
 G-d who designed and created us, also
provides us with the User's Manual to
ensure that we properly fulfill our function.

A 613-ply cord
 Each mitzvah is a
distinct strand of the
rope connecting us with
G-d. The more mitzvot
we do, the more
powerful and complete
is the bond.

3. Bridge the gap between body and soul
 Until American Jews
stops thinking in
Christian terms we
will never be able to
meaningfully accept
mitzvot, or Judaism
for that matter.
- from “Think Jewish”
by Rabbi Zalman Posner

4. Bringing Moshiach
 Mitzvot are the
key to bringing
about the inner
transformation of
the world

5. The Importance of Details
 The cracked or missing letter of the
tefillin is just like a digit missing from a
phone number or URL.

Emergency Measures
In times of danger,
such as an outbreak
of a plague, special
prayers are recited,
and the shofar is
blown. –
Sefer Hamitzvos, Postive
Commandment 59.

Of Pigs and People
But if pigs are dying the Talmud
says, the law is the same as if
people were dying.

Oink!
It is recognized today in the medical
world that pigs are the best sources
for insulin, heart valves, etc.

Sinai to Cyberspace - 5780

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