Prove to Me That the Oral Torah Also Comes from Hashem: 5 Points to Consider

Fingerprints

Why do we have fingerprints?

There's a fascinating design: no other part of our body has fingerprints—not our faces, not our stomachs, backs, necks, or shoulders, yet our hands are adorned with fine ridges. Why?

Under a microscope, or even with a keen eye, fingerprints appear as grooves in the skin, sculpted ridges and valleys, deep parallel lines. They make our hands slightly rough. The reason is ingenious.

The roughness in our hands allows us to feel even the tiniest and most delicate objects. The tiny ridges on our fingers hugely enhance the sense of touch.

A rough object passes over dozens of ridges, amplifying the sensation down to the finest details of the object or surface. Nerves at our fingertips spread across each ridge, enhancing the sense of touch they receive. If you wrap your fingers in cling wrap, you'd notice your sense of touch diminishes.

Moreover, fingerprints today serve as a means of police identification, as they are never identical. Billions of people exist with no two fingerprints being the same. A marvelous wonder.

Vague Instructions

A common argument is: I believe in the Torah given by Hashem, but I only believe in the Written Torah (Tanakh). How do I know the Oral Torah (Mishnah and Talmud) was truly given by Hashem? How can I rely on something transmitted orally?

How can this truly be proven? It can be shown logically—from the Torah itself—that both Written and Oral Torah were given together:

It's common sense that unclear instructions cannot be written in a legal code, and certainly not penalties attached to them. Yet, upon examining the Written Torah, we find many commandments and prohibitions which, without their oral explanation, simply cannot be understood. Furthermore, alongside these are severe punishments, such as death penalties.

Does it sound logical that the Giver of the Torah would command us without explaining how to perform a commandment? Could we be punished for not observing it? With all our good intentions to fulfill the mitzvah, the Written Torah doesn't prescribe how to do it!

For example, the mitzvah of tefillin: the Torah states, "And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes" (Deuteronomy 6:8). Just reading these verses, it's not clear at all: what exactly should be bound? On which hand—right or left? What are frontlets? And more questions.

No factory manager would give vague instructions, expect someone to understand his intent, and then promise reward to those who fulfill his wishes and punishment to those who don't. Therefore, logically, it's clear that an oral explanation was necessary for the commandments in the Written Torah..

Amazingly, for thousands of years, Jews from all corners of the world have come to the consensus that the scripture refers to square black boxes with straps, containing four specific passages copied from the Torah! How did they arrive at such a conclusion, with no explicit hint in the text?!

Oral Torah - Really?

Another way to prove the existence and truth of the Oral Torah is that it's stated in the Written Torah!

Upon examining the Written Torah, we see explicitly in several places the existence of the Oral Torah:

• "And thou shalt sacrifice of thy herd and thy flock, which the Lord has given thee, as I commanded thee" (Deuteronomy 12:21). We scroll through the Torah from start to finish, and there isn't a single verse detailing how to slaughter. So where's "as I commanded thee"? In the Oral Torah...
• "These are the statutes and judgments and the torahs, which He gave between Himself and the children of Israel at Mount Sinai by the hand of Moses" (Leviticus 26:46). From here we learn that two Torahs were given to Israel, one written and one oral by Moses from Sinai..

These are proofs that together with the Written Torah—Moshe Rabbeinu received the Oral Torah, detailing and explaining the commandments and prohibitions precisely.

Oral Torah – Why?

Some people say: "Indeed, I understand that along with the Written Torah, Moshe Rabbeinu received the Oral Torah, detailing and explaining the commandments and prohibitions. But why didn't Hashem also write it? Why choose to convey it orally? Wouldn't it have been better to write it down and preserve it?! There are several explanations:

1. Oral explanation allows for more detailed and tailored information: Anyone studying law knows they can read Israel's legal code. But without tailored explanations from a lecturer, one cannot fully understand the legislation as intended by the legislators. Likewise here: an oral explanation of a written commandment allows it to be tailored to the listener's state, detailed according to circumstances, and adjusted for age and comprehension level.

The law is indeed written in the Torah (like Shabbat, tefillin, circumcision, the four species, etc.), but some interpret the intent one way, others another, while their companions view the text entirely differently. In contrast, when the legislator explains the text orally to clarify written words' intent, it can be ensured that his words are understood correctly, clarifying his true intent, for he expands and adjusts his words according to the listeners' age and level, making sure they grasp his idea comprehensively. Only this way can he be sure his words were understood correctly, preventing disputes or errors in interpreting his intent.

2. Distinguishing between nations and the Jewish people: To prevent other nations from imitating us and discovering all the Torah's secrets, Hashem gave a Written Torah and an Oral Torah. Thus only the Jewish people could perform the mitzvot, maintaining their uniqueness as a chosen nation and earning rewards accordingly.

So why eventually was the Oral Torah "written"? Rabbi Judah the Prince and the Sanhedrin wrote the Oral Torah (the Mishnah) and compiled it as one complete and final code. He saw that without writing down the Mishnah, continuing to recite it orally as before, it would ultimately be forgotten by the Jewish people, thus he decided to write it.

"Who Knows Nine? I Know Nine! Nine Months of Pregnancy..."

The words in the Hebrew language have an essential connection to their meaning. For example:

Have you ever thought about what lies behind the word 'pregnancy'? And what is the connection between the word 'pregnancy' and nine months?

Let's do a quick exercise in gematria: ה = 5; ר = 200; י = 10; ו = 6; נ = 50; total = 271.

The word 'pregnancy' in gematria: 271. As known, a woman's pregnancy lasts 9 months which is 270 days, and on the 271st day, she gives birth.

This intriguing finding appears in the Tractate Niddah (page 38): "And the Lord gave her pregnancy in gematria 271 and the nine months of 30 days are 270 days, and on the 271st, the scripture writes she will give birth".

Though scientifically, pregnancy lasts 40 weeks, which is 280 days, let's not forget that pregnancy duration is measured not from the day of conception, but from the woman's last menstrual period. Thus, if we subtract about two weeks and count from the time of ovulation (ovulation occurs about two weeks before the menstruation date, being the optimal time to conceive), we find that a pregnancy lasts approximately 270 days.

Furthermore, medical research shows an average pregnancy duration is 271.5 days (according to Prof. Chaim Shor's research on the connection between Hebrew names and their physical characteristics).

We see that words in the holy language and their numerical values express deep and significant layers. Isn't it a wonder that there is a connection between the word 'pregnancy' and its physiological meaning?