The History of Rabbinical Laws

PIKESVILLE, Maryland — The fifth weekly biblical portion in Deuteronomy is Shoftim, “Judges.” The rabbis who were descendants of the ancient Pharisees saw this portion supporting the views of the Pharisees and not those of the Sadducees. The ancient Sadducees ceased to exist after the second temple was destroyed in 70 CE, and were later followed by Karaites.

The first Karaites began in Babylon. Its founder was Anan ben David (740 to 795 CE). He and his followers rejected the authority of the rabbis and the Talmud. They claimed that only the literal wording of the Bible is the source of religious law. This is why they are called Karaits, based on the Hebrew word kara, meaning “Scripture.” In contrast, mainstream Jewry considered the teachings of the rabbis as the authoritative interpretations of the Torah. There may be as many as 50,000 Karaite Jews existing today, most living in Israel, with only about 1500 in the US.[1]

 

The Karaites were preceded by the Sadducees, a religious and political group active during the second century BCE to 70 CE in Judea associated with the aristocracy and the Temple priesthood.

We do not know the origin of the name Sadducees. Some scholars think that the name was derived from the Hebrew name of the high priest Tzadok, who held this position during the reign of the kings David and Solomon, centuries before the name Sadducee was first mentioned. They say the Sadducees of the later time saw themselves as the successors to this ancient priest and adopted his name, which means “righteous.”

I don’t think this is true. I see no reason why people centuries after the ancient high priest lived would want to associate themselves with him simply because he held his position during a historical period. I think it is more likely that when Jews began to seek modern interpretations of the Torah texts, the elite temple priests reacted by calling them Pharisees, meaning “separatists” and “reformers,” and called themselves “Sadducees,” a word based on the Hebrew word tzedek, which means the “righteous” and “correct” because they continued the ancient tradition of following the literal wording of the Bible, not what the “newcomers” read into the text.[2] 

While the Pharisees were called “separatists” and “reformers,” they did not see themselves as such. They considered themselves as fulfilling the Torah’s desire to have the Torah laws grow more rationally humane.  The name-calling is similar to what happened during the much later Age of Enlightenment when Jewish reformers called traditional Jews “Orthodox,” a name that stuck to them as Pharisee stuck to the ancients, even though the word “orthodox” means “those who live a life according to beliefs,” while the traditionalists based their lives instead, as the Torah dictates, on “acts.” The Torah requires proper acts, not beliefs. “Orthopractic” should have been the correct word.

The most striking distinction between the Sadducees and Pharisees was their different interpretations of Exodus 35:3, which states, “A fire must not burn in your dwellings on the Sabbath day.” The Sadducees understood the command prohibiting the existence of fire in homes on the Sabbath. They sat at home in the dark during the evening and night and in the cold in the fall and winter. Their Sabbath was dark and gloomy.

The Pharisees understood that the command was not to ignite a fire, but if a fire had been lit before the Sabbath began, it could and should be enjoyed. The Jewish Shabbat home should be, as Issac Luria, known as Ari Hakodosh (1534-1572), wrote in his poem Yom zeh l’yisrael orah v’simcha,  “This day is for Israel a day of light and joy.”

The custom of lighting candles before the Sabbath is not biblical but was first mentioned in the Mishnah, which was composed around 200 CE. It was most likely innovated a couple of centuries earlier by the Pharisees. The practice spread to traditional Jews to ensure homes had light during the Shabbat and to imbue the house with spiritual light and joy.

It is customary to light at least two candles before Shabbat begins. In all probability, two candles were used rather than just one to enhance the light and warmth. However, some people see the two as recalling the two Shabbat laws in the two versions of the Decalogue. One candle symbolizes the Sabbath mentioned in Exodus 20:8, “remember the Sabbath day,” and the other represents the Sabbath in Deuteronomy 5:12, “observe the Sabbath day.” Some families light more than two candles; none light just one.

The Pharisees found support for their view that the Torah wanted Jews to improve the Torah rules and make them more rationally humane because they saw multiple hints in the Torah advising them to do so, to stop slavery, sacrifices, warfare, give women the same respect given to men, treat non-Jews the same as Jews, and many other rules, without going to the extreme of acting like a fool who finds proof for their foolishness in every scriptural passage. One of the hints is in the Torah portion Shoftim, in Deuteronomy 17:8-11.

“When there is a judicial matter that is obscure to you where you live, whether regarding blood,[3] judicial decisions, plagues, or other controversies, you must get up and go to the place that the Lord your God has chosen and come to the priests, Levites, and judges that exist in those days and seek a solution. They will give you the judgment. You must do what they tell you.”

The Pharisees focused on the superfluous words “that exist in those days.” Surely, the questioner would not travel to judges existing in the past or future. They saw that the wording conveys a clear message that the judges were concerned with the needs that exist in their days, a time the Torah was waiting for, a time when the people were no longer primitive and were rationally humane.[4]

One can see a summary of the prior history in a comment Professor Halivni made concerning the verse in the portion Shoftim. He notes “that there is no mention here of following God – only the decision of the shofet (judge) or kohen.

The Torah is aware that it will be interpreted by human beings as questions and situations arise. Yet a free-for-all of interpretation would result in no Torah at all. Thus, God chooses the place where the shofet or kohen will sit, but the process of interpretation and ruling is left in their hands…. From these verses comes a system that unifies the legal interpretation of the Torah that is necessary to its continuity.”