When witnesses wanted to testify on the sighting of the new moon, they needed other witnesses to testify to their trustworthiness.
This need for witnesses on the trustworthiness of the witnesses was because the Tzidukim tried to trick the court to sanctify the new moon in a way that the first day of Pesach would be on Shabbos.
In this recording we explain the concept of the Torah tradition and Oral Law in that every system has an oral law. The real choice for mankind is to accept the tradition of the experts or to create one’s own oral tradition.
Consider, for example, a recipe that says to add, “A dash of pepper.” How much is a dash? What is pepper? Clearly one needs to have a mentor and an authorized tradition to explain how to understand the written directive. Similarly, in Torah, even to know how to pronounce the letters of the Hebrew alphabet requires mentorship and tradition. (See the story of Hillel and the convert, Talmud Shabbos 31a)
The Talmud records a story of how the Tzidukim tried to pay witnesses to say false testimony to get the month sanctified on a day on which the new moon had not yet been seen, and how their plot was exposed.
We hope you enjoy!
-RMR
When witnesses wanted to testify on the sighting of the new moon, they needed other witnesses to testify to their trustworthiness.
This need for witnesses on the trustworthiness of the witnesses was because the Tzidukim tried to trick the court to sanctify the new moon in a way that the first day of Pesach would be on Shabbos.
In this recording we explain the concept of the Torah tradition and Oral Law in that every system has an oral law. The real choice for mankind is to accept the tradition of the experts or to create one’s own oral tradition.
Consider, for example, a recipe that says to add, “A dash of pepper.” How much is a dash? What is pepper? Clearly one needs to have a mentor and an authorized tradition to explain how to understand the written directive. Similarly, in Torah, even to know how to pronounce the letters of the Hebrew alphabet requires mentorship and tradition. (See the story of Hillel and the convert, Talmud Shabbos 31a)
The Talmud records a story of how the Tzidukim tried to pay witnesses to say false testimony to get the month sanctified on a day on which the new moon had not yet been seen, and how their plot was exposed.
We hope you enjoy!
-RMR