Puneet Varma (Editor)

Law given to Moses at Sinai

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A Law given to Moses at Sinai (Hebrew Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai הלכה למשה מסיני) refers to a halakhic law that is neither explicitly stated in the biblical laws nor derived from it by Talmudical hermeneutics (the Oral exposition); it is, however, known from the Jewish Tradition. As a category, "The law given to Moses at Mount Sinai" refers to halakhot not included in the Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible), but which were transmitted orally since time immemorial from one generation to the next, with no scriptural source. The laws are nonetheless considered by the Talmud to have the force and gravity of Biblical law as if they are written explicitly in the Torah. A classic example are the laws of Tefillin. Tefillin are a set of small black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah. Sets of tefillin, dating from the 1st-century CE, were discovered at Qumran in the Judean Desert. The corresponding halakhot, as expounded by the 'Oral Law', are mentioned four times in the Torah (Exodus 13:9,Exodus 13:16,Deuteronomy 6:8,Deuteronomy 11:18), though.

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Law given to Moses at Sinai Wikipedia