Why is it ever okay to write down oral Jewish law?

"The truth is that the oral Torah was never written down. The meaning of the Torah has never been contained by books" - Abraham Joshua Heschel.

Rabbi Moshe Baruch Morgenstern was a descendant of the famed Rabbi Menahem Mendel of Kotzk (1787-1859). He was the last hassidic master in the Polish town of Kock, before he was murdered in the Sobibor death camp. In 1934, Moshe Baruch departed from the family custom and, together with his brother Rabbi Yosef Aaron (1891-1942), published a collection of hassidic teachings titled Ateret Zvi.

Moshe Baruch felt that he needed to explain why he was bringing hassidic teachings to the printing press, despite the fact that for the past four generations his Kotzker ancestors had not published their Torah. He, therefore, cited a heretofore unknown teaching from Menahem Mendel about transcribing Torah.

According to Jewish tradition, the distinction between Written Torah and Oral Torah is sacred. What is written may not be transmitted orally and what is oral may not be written down. Over time the sharp distinction was considered untenable and the Sages permitted transcribing the Torah teachings. Thus, today much of the Oral tradition is preserved in hallowed tomes. Works such as the Mishna, Midrash and Talmud are studied earnestly and piously as foundational texts of the “Oral” tradition.

The Sages linked this tectonic change in Jewish tradition to the verse “It is a time to act for the Lord, they have violated Your teaching” (Psalms 119:126) – the violation of the Oral Law through its transcription reflects time-sensitive needs and is done for the sake of the Almighty.

According to the tradition reported by his descendant, Menahem Mendel had difficulty accepting this idea: Could this be the source of such a seismic change in Jewish tradition?!

In context, the biblical verse talks disparagingly of those who violate God’s teachings. Menahem Mendel may have been troubled that such a verse could be the source for uprooting a mainstay of Jewish tradition – namely, that the Oral Law should indeed be oral and not written down! Moshe Baruch continued with his great-great-grandfather’s pithy explanation:

“And he – of blessed memory – said that it appears that in truth not everything was yet written.”

It is difficult to definitively say what Menahem Mendel had in mind. The explanation, presented in six Hebrew words, is not fleshed out. Moreover, over the years the exact language may have been inadvertently altered. In addition, it stands to reason that the remark was originally offered in Yiddish. So it is likely that the exact wording and perhaps even the precise meaning have been eroded with the sands of time.

From the words as they appear before us, it sounds like the Seraph of Kotzk was describing the transcription of the Oral tradition as an ongoing process. Writing down the Oral Law was not a onetime historical event; it is a continuous endeavor. Despite the Sages’ license to write, not everything has been transcribed. However, by saying that “not everything was yet written” it sounds like the Kotzker was suggesting that the Oral Torah could be entirely transcribed at some time in the future.

Later works associated with Kotzk tradition would cite Moshe Baruch’s tradition, though on occasion they would slightly alter the emphasis of the remark. Thus, for example, a 1940 collection of Kotzk teachings titled Emet Ve’emuna cited Menahem Mendel as saying:

“And it appears that even though they permitted transcribing the Oral Law, nevertheless it is still in oral form.”

This version does not speak to the enterprise of transcribing the Oral Law; rather it suggests that despite the license to write, the tradition remains oral. It is unclear whether this is inevitable or by choice. There may even be an antinomian chord being struck here: Despite the permit granted by the Sages, we continue to preserve the Oral Torah as God intended.

A different reading comes from further in Moshe Baruch’s preface, where he explained that the ongoing enterprise of Oral Torah was part of the evergreen quest for greater depth and new meaning in Jewish tradition.

This inspiring approach suggests that the never-ending enterprise of Oral Torah cannot be written down. An element of Jewish tradition will always remain oral, even as we continue to write. The Torah is not a finite corpus; it continues to blossom, as successive generations plumb the depths of our heritage.

In this way, the sacred distinction between written and oral is never violated, as an element of the Oral Law remains – perforce – oral.

A similar line of explanation appears in the writings of the theologian and social activist Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972).

Heschel was no outsider to the hassidic world. He was a scion of famed hassidic dynasties and grew up steeped in the hassidic ethos. Kotzk was particularly close to his heart: Heschel’s two-volume Yiddish work on the Kotzker and the struggle for truth was published posthumously in 1973.

In his 1955 work God in Search of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism, Heschel referred to the Kotzker Rebbe’s teaching. First he changed the emphasis of the question:

“Rabbi Mendel of Kotsk asked: How could the ancient Rabbis abolish the fundamental principle of Judaism, not to write down what is to be kept as an oral tradition, on the basis of a single verse in the book of Psalms?” (p. 276).

The problem, according to Heschel was not the creative interpretation that divorced the verse from its biblical context. Rather, it was the fact that a lone verse seemed to have the power to overturn sacred tradition. According to Heschel, Menahem Mendel’s answer was fuller than the sources we have seen thus far:

“The truth is that the oral Torah was never written down. The meaning of the Torah has never been contained by books.”

It is unclear whether the second sentence is part of Menahem Mendel’s answer or Heschel’s explanation of the Kotzker’s answer. Regardless of who deserves credit, we have a slightly different take on the eternal orality of Oral Law: Even if the entire Oral Tradition could be and was indeed transcribed, it could never include the meaning.

The words offered by Heschel echo a line in the continuation of Moshe Baruch’s preface. Moshe Baruch noted that the Talmud declares that the Torah is boundless (Eruvin 21a), yet we see that the tradition is circumscribed by books that have a beginning and an end. Moshe Baruch explained that the Torah is infinite in its depth and inner substance.

The essence of the Oral Law is not in the words – whether they are written in a book or transmitted orally – but in the depth, significance and relevance of those words. Indeed, tradition can never fully be encapsulated by the written word, because the life force of Torah is to be found in the quest for meaning.

Rabbi Dr. Levi Cooper is the Maggid of Melbourne, a faculty member of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, and rabbi in Tzur Hadassa. He is a teaching fellow at Tel Aviv University's Faculty of Law. This article first appeared in The Jerusalem Post. He can be contacted at levi@pardes.org.il.

IF YOU ENJOYED THIS, YOU'LL ALSO LOVE...

Whether or not you have the pleasure and privilege of being physically present in our Beit Midrash, this is a golden opportunity to learn Torah with us. Join the Maggid of Melbourne, Rabbi Dr. Levi Cooper, on his quest across centuries and over continents, as he sets out to understand the mysterious longing for the Hoshen Mishpat [Breastplate of Judgement]. How did this priestly vestment work, and why would sages pine for its return?

An enchanting adventure from the Bible, on to the Medieval Rabbis, and through to the beginning of the twentieth century. There is only one more thing to say: TO THE BEIT MIDRASH!

Subscribe and Learn with Levi Today!

The Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies brings together men and women of all backgrounds to study classic Jewish texts and current Jewish issues in an open, warm and challenging learning environment. Pardes offers a variety of programs including a Year Program, Educators Programs, a variety of summer programs and events throughout the year. Check out our website.