Listen to the Rabbis

The Torah gives us clear instructions that it is our obligation to follow the teachings of the Rabbis. They were empowered to transmit the Oral Law. The exact wording comes from the words, על פי התורה אשר יורוך, “According to the Torah that they will teach you.”

This means that one of the 613 commandments is to obey the rabbis of each generation. They understand the responsibility that they have to be certain that the Torah and Jewish tradition will be held intact for the next generation.

There is a strange Midrash that 3000 Halachic rulings of Moshe Rabbeinu, were forgotten in Joshua’s time. This made the people very despondent. It was only Moshe, who was given the ability to ask questions of Hashem directly, if he needed help in interpreting the law.

Kalev Ben Yefune, Moshe’s brother in-law announced that he would give his daughter, Achsa, in marriage, to anyone who can recover these 3000 laws. Otniel Ben Kenaz, who later became the judge who captured Kiryat Sefer, succeeded in remembering these laws.

We are never permitted to belittle or minimize the special role and teachings of our sacred rabbis. They are owed a deep sense of gratitude for allowing Judaism to be sustained during our long and bitter exile. And it is also a Mitzva from the Torah to follow their teachings.