מסירת תורה שבעל פה א׳Transmission of the Oral Law 1

Halacha 1א׳

אָז לֹא אֵבוֹשׁ, בְּהַבִּיטִי אֶל כָּל מִצְו‍ֹתֶיךָ: כָּל הַמִּצְווֹת שֶׁנִּתְּנוּ לוֹ לְמֹשֶׁה בְּסִינַי – בְּפֵרוּשָׁן נִתְּנוּ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמָר "וְאֶתְּנָה לְךָ אֶת־לֻחֹת הָאֶבֶן, וְהַתּוֹרָה וְהַמִּצְוָה" (שמות כד, יב): "תּוֹרָה", זוֹ תּוֹרָה שֶׁבִּכְתָב; וּ"מִצְוָה", זֶה פֵּרוּשָׁהּ. וְצִוָּנוּ לַעֲשׂוֹת הַתּוֹרָה, עַל פִּי הַמִּצְוָה. וּמִצְוָה זוֹ, הִיא הַנִּקְרֵאת תּוֹרָה שֶׁבְּעַל פֶּה.

"Then I shall not be ashamed, when I look upon all Your commandments" (Psalms 119:6). All the commandments that were given to Moses at Sinai were given together with their explanation, as it is said (Exodus 24:12), "And I shall give you the tablets of stone, and the Torah and the commandment": "Torah," this is the Written Torah; and "the commandment," this is its explanation. And He commanded us to carry out the Torah according to the commandment. And this commandment is what is called the Oral Torah.

Halacha 2ב׳

כָּל הַתּוֹרָה – כְּתָבָהּ מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּנוּ קֹדֶם שֶׁיָּמוּת, בִּכְתָב יָדוֹ. וְנָתַן סֵפֶר לְכָל שֵׁבֶט וְשֵׁבֶט; וְסֵפֶר אֶחָד – נְתָנָהוּ בָּאָרוֹן לְעֵד, שֶׁנֶּאֱמָר "לָקֹחַ, אֵת סֵפֶר הַתּוֹרָה הַזֶּה, וְשַׂמְתֶּם אֹתוֹ, מִצַּד אֲרוֹן בְּרִית־ה' אֱלֹהֵיכֶם; וְהָיָה־שָׁם בְּךָ, לְעֵד" (דברים לא, כו).

The whole Torah, Moses our teacher wrote it before he died, in his own hand. And he gave a scroll to each and every tribe; and one scroll he placed in the ark for a witness, as it is said (Deuteronomy 31:26), "Take this book of the Torah and place it at the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and it shall be there for a witness against you."

Halacha 3ג׳

וְהַמִּצְוָה, שְׁהִיא פֵּרוּשׁ הַתּוֹרָה – לֹא כְתָבָהּ; אֵלָא צִוָּה בָּהּ לַזְּקֵנִים וְלִיהוֹשׁוּעַ וְלִשְׁאָר כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל, שֶׁנֶּאֱמָר "אֵת כָּל־הַדָּבָר, אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוֶּה אֶתְכֶם – אֹתוֹ תִשְׁמְרוּ, לַעֲשׂוֹת . . ." (דברים יג, א). וּמִפְּנֵי זֶה נִקְרֵאת תּוֹרָה שֶׁבְּעַל פֶּה.

And the commandment, which is the explanation of the Torah, he did not write; rather he gave charge concerning it to the elders and to Yehoshua and to all the rest of Israel, as it is said (Deuteronomy 13:1), "Everything that I command you, that shall you take care to do." And for this reason it is called the Oral Torah.