Shalom everyone,
Talmidaism’s rejection of the Oral Law does not mean that we reject ALL human interpretation outright – after all, there are definitely things in Torah which are unclear and ambiguous, and we would agree with the rabbis in that respect. Yeshua’s criticism of the Sadducees alongside the Pharisees, suggests to us where his views lay on the spectrum of Jewish practice: somewhere between over-interpretation on the one hand, and harsh biblical literalism on the other.
We know that he was critical of the Oral Law, especially of those laws that are burdensome and which overrule God (Mt 23:4, Mk 7:10-13). However, where the Sadducees were concerned, apart from their abuse of power, he was also critical of their narrow, overly literal application of Torah (this is why we are opposed to a narrow, literal interpretation of the Bible). Many people are not aware that the Sadducees only held the 5 books of the Torah to be sacred, and did not accept the books of the Prophets.
What the books of the Prophets give us is very important – they give us the sacred principles and values we need to use, in order to interpret Torah correctly and with godly compassion; in Yeshua’s view, mercy and forgiveness were paramount principles used in the application of otherwise seemingly harsh commandments in Torah (consider Yeshua’s reaction to the woman caught in the act of adultery, Jn 8:1-11). Prophetic principles tell us that if we practice customs and rituals without being good and decent people in our hearts, then the customs we practice are utterly worthless (Isa 1:14, Amos 5:21). Pharisaic Judaism, in contrast, decreed that ritual laws were just as important as moral ones.
Yeshua’s parable of the gold talents (Mt 25:14-30) implies that he was critical of religious people who merely observe the rules literally, but profit nothing by them, nor do anything constructive with them – they don’t use God’s laws to become better and kinder people. This is what the Sadducees were like – they merely observed the rules of Torah literally, and because they did not use any prophetic values or ideals to interpret Torah, they became a group of people who thought that, ‘As long as I simply observe the rules and rituals, I’ll be okay, there’s nothing that God can do to me, because what is in my heart doesn’t matter’ (they didn’t believe in an afterlife either).
So this tells us where Yeshua stood: The Oral law is a burden, because it unnecessarily complicates things, adds things which are against the spirit of Torah, and overrules God. On the other hand, he wasn’t on the other extreme, which is ‘rules alone, with no attention to their spirit, or to God’s prophetic principles’.
So that’s where Talmidaism lies, somewhere in the middle – that God’s commandments are to be interpreted in the light of the prophetic values, just principles and compassionate ideals that YHVH taught us through the Prophets – what is in your heart, mind and soul matters. When you come to apply biblical commandments and requirements, don’t forget that God taught us HOW to interpret those requirements through the words of the Prophets.
Blessings, your brother in willing service,
Shmuliq