Great Laws (Halakhot gedolot): On the Transmission of the Torah

The Lord made me as the beginning of His way, the first of His works of old. (Proverbs 8:22)

The Torah declared: I was formed before the creation of the world. R. Huna said in the name of R. Simeon ben Lakish: The Torah preceded the creation of the world by two thousand years, as it is stated: Then I was with Him, as a nursling, and I was daily all delight (Proverbs 8:30). Nursling [amon]: This means that the Torah said, “I was the tools of the trade [kele umanuto] of the Holy One; He peered into me and created the world, as it is stated: The Lord made me as the beginning of His way.” Daily [lit., day day]: The day of the Holy One is a thousand years, as it is stated: For a thousand years in Your sight are but as yesterday when it is past (Psalms 90:4). [Thus two “days” equals two thousand years.] And another verse states: He remembered His covenant forever, the word that He commanded for a thousand generations (Psalms 105:8), which teaches that the Torah was created 974 generations before the creation of the world, as there were twenty-six generations from the creation of the world, from Adam to Moses, our teacher [making a thousand generations that the Torah was “remembered”]. When you allocate 974 generations for the two thousand years [that the Torah existed before creation], you will find that each and every generation lasts for two years, nineteen days, eleven and two-thirds hours, and fourteen fractions [1,080ths of an hour], and this is a generation.

Kindness [ḥesed] said to the Torah, “Even though you preceded me, you need me, for the world was created for my sake, as it is stated: For I have said: The world is built on kindness; in the very heavens You establish Your faithfulness (Psalms 89:3).” To what is this matter comparable? To a fine and praiseworthy woman, who nevertheless requires an older woman to [help] adorn her [with jewels]. Thus, kindness said to the Torah, “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the Torah of kindness is on her tongue (Proverbs 31:26).” But is there a Torah of kindness and a Torah that is not of kindness? R. Eleazar said: Torah studied for its own sake is a Torah of kindness; if it is studied not for its own sake, it is a Torah that is not of kindness. Alternatively, the Torah that one studies without the intention of teaching is a Torah that is not of kindness; the Torah that one studies with the intention of teaching is a Torah of kindness. [ . . . ]

Moses received the Torah from Sinai and passed it on to Joshua, and Joshua to the elders, the elders to the prophets, and the prophets passed it on to the men of the Great Assembly: Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Ezra, and his colleagues [see m. Avot 1:1]. After the last prophets—Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi—passed away, the holy spirit was removed from Israel. Even so, they would make use of a heavenly voice from that point onward, as it is stated: Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise and apply your heart to My knowledge (Proverbs 22:17).

There is a greater severity to the words of the sages than to the words of the Torah, for if one says “There is no commandment of phylacteries” with the intention of violating the words of the Torah, he is exempt [from punishment], whereas one who violates the words of the sages is liable to death [see b. ‘Eruvin 21b]. R. Abdimi from Haifa said: From the day that the Temple was destroyed, prophecy was taken from the prophets and given to the sages. But is not a sage [who receives a prophecy] called a prophet? This is what he means: Even though prophecy was taken from the prophets, wisdom was not taken from the sages. Amemar said: And a sage is greater than a prophet, as it is stated: and a prophet has a heart of wisdom (Psalms 90:12). Who is generally compared to whom? The lesser is compared to the greater [see b. Bava Batra 12a].¹

It is written: For your love is better than wine (Song of Songs 1:2). R. Ḥanina, son of R. Adda, said in the name of R. Tanḥum bar Ḥiyya: The words of the sages are beloved, and they are more severe than the words of prophecy. This is comparable to a king who sent two missives. On one of them, he wrote: “If the messenger does not show the sages my seal and my imprimatur, do not believe him,” and on the other he wrote: “Even if he does not show you my seal and my imprimatur, believe him.” Likewise, regarding words of prophecy it is written: If there arise in your midst a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder (Deuteronomy 13:2), whereas regarding the words of the sages it is written: In accordance with the Torah which they shall teach you [and in accordance with the judgment which they shall tell you] (Deuteronomy 17:11). It is not written, “which the Torah shall teach you,” but which they shall teach you. Similarly, it is not written, “in accordance with the judgment which He shall tell you,” rather, which they shall tell you. This teaches that if they tell you about the right that it is actually the left, or about the left that it is the right, you must listen to them; all the more so when they tell you about the right that it is the right, and about the left that it is the left; about the impure that it is impure, and about the pure that it is pure.