According to the legends, those forty days and nights were a whirlwind education. Ginzberg’s Legends of the Jews tells us that Moses received it all up there: not just the Torah – the Five Books of Moses – but also the Mishnah, the Talmud, and the Haggadah. Basically, everything! Even all those questions future scholars would ask their teachers – Moses got the answers in advance. It’s mind-boggling, isn't it?
So, with all that knowledge downloaded into his brain, Moses naturally asked God, "Shouldn't we just write this whole thing down and give it to the people?" Makes sense, right?
But God, in his infinite wisdom, had a reason for saying no. A fascinating reason, actually. God foresaw a future where other nations would translate the Torah into Greek and claim, “We are the true Israel, the children of God!”
And how would God respond? According to this legend, he'd say, “Oh really? You claim to be my children? Do you even know my secret? I entrusted the Oral Torah to my true children – it’s their inheritance!”
That's why, the legend explains, Moses only received the Pentateuch – the Five Books – in written form. The rest, the Oral Torah, was transmitted by word of mouth, generation after generation. This Oral Torah, things like Mishnah and Talmud, it’s the ongoing interpretation, the lively debate, the living heart of the tradition.
The covenant God made with Israel, therefore, included both a written and an oral Torah. As we find in Midrash Rabbah, it came with a pretty serious warning: “I gave you a written and an oral Torah. My covenant with you says that you shall study the written Torah as a written thing, and the oral as an oral; but in case you confound the one with the other you will not be rewarded.”
Think about that for a moment. It’s not just about knowing the words, but understanding the way they're meant to be studied and lived.
And the stakes were high! "For the Torah's sake alone have I made a covenant with you," God says. "Had ye not accepted the Torah, I should not have acknowledged you before all other nations." Before accepting the Torah, they were just like any other nation, but through the Torah, they were elevated.
Even Moses himself, the greatest prophet, owed his distinction in this world and the next to the Torah. Had Israel not accepted the Torah, the legend concludes, God would have dissolved the upper and lower worlds into chaos. Whoa.
So, the next time you think about the Torah, remember it's not just a book. It’s a living, breathing tradition – a conversation that’s been going on for thousands of years, with both a written and an oral component. It’s a secret entrusted to a people, a source of distinction, and, according to this powerful legend, the very foundation of the world. What a responsibility, what a privilege!