<aside> ⚖️

Rabbinic Judaism teaches that Moses received both the Written and Oral Torah at Sinai.

</aside>

Many Jews reject Jesus because His teachings and authority often conflict with their oral traditions & law.

But what if the oral torah was never given by God to Moses? Then Rabbinic/Modern Judaism is a religion built on human tradition rather than divine law, and it doesn’t reflect the original covenant God gave Israel through Moses.

If the Oral Torah wasn’t from God, then Jesus is the only one who kept God’s Law perfectly, exposed man-made traditions, and revealed Himself as the true fulfillment of the Torah.

Logical Reasons That The Oral Torah Wasn’t Given To Moses

  1. Throughout the Tanach the word Torah in the sense of the body of divine instructions is only mentioned in the singular - never in the plural.

The word Torot (torahs) does appear but not as a body, as singular laws inside the Torah, eg. the law of the burnt offerings…

Logically, the existence of two Torahs (written and oral) would’ve been mentioned at least once in scriptures.

All we read in the Tanach is a singular Law of Moses, never the Torahs of Moses.

  1. Throughout the whole Tanach there’s not one single reference to the Oral Torah. We never see a prophet mention a law in the Oral Torah or any quotes from the Oral Torah.

  2. Throughout the 6 divisions of the Mishna there’s a lack of the biblical formula such as: “…And Yahweh said to Aaron and Moses” - instead in the Mishna, it’s written “Rabbi X said ‘in the name of Rabbi Y’”. These are clearly the words of men and not commandments from God.

  3. The Tanach reports that the written Torah was both lost and forgotten for many years and only rediscovered by some Temple Priests.

Then Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the scribe, “I have found the book of the law in the house of Yahweh.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan and he read it. - 2 Kings 22:8

When the king of Israel heard that the book was rediscovered he teared his clothes because he realized his people’s actions were completely against the Law.

They completely forgot what the written torah said in just a matter of years:

Now it happened that when the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes. - 2 Kings 22: 11

“Go, inquire of Yahweh for me and the people and all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found, for great is the wrath of Yahweh which is set aflame against us, because our fathers have not listened to the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.” - 2 Kings 22: 13

It is inconceivable that an Oral Law could’ve been remembered for hundreds of years when even the written law was forgotten, especially since the Oral Law is dependant on the Written Law to derive it’s full meaning.

  1. Rabbis claim that Oral Law was given on Mt. Sinai as the official interpretation of the Torah. Yet, if one actually looks at the Mishna and Talmud, they are full of the opinions of rabbis who disagree with each other on almost every single issue. The Rabbis explain that whenever there are disagreements, both opinions are the words of God. While it is possible for two individuals to come to different conclusions from the same text, reason dictates that at least one of them must be wrong. It is completely unreasonable that God would consistently contradict himself.

Textual Reasons That The Oral Torah Wasn’t Given To Moses