Unbroken Chain

There is an important concept in Judaism known as Halacha Le’Moshe Mi’Sinai. This is a key principle related to the Oral Law.

When we are told that Hashem dictated the Torah to Moshe on Mount Sinai, some picture him like a secretary taking dictation. But it was much different than that. Moshe was in the highest spiritual state possible in man. He did not need to eat or drink. He was like an angel. Hashem did not need to actually utter the words. He communicated with Moshe in a more telepathic manner. He knew the instructions without being told.

When he came down from Mount Sinai, he was imbued with how the Torah was to be implemented. Most of the forty years in the desert were not spent traveling. That generation was known as דור דיעה, the generation of knowledge, and the time in the desert was spent learning how to live according to this system.

Such ideas as Tefillin and Shechita, ritual slaughtering, were not explained in the Written Law, but were explained in the Oral Law as part of Halacha Le’Moshe Mi’Sinai.

We are still uncovering some of the ideas taught at Sinai. It is our duty to study the Torah in depth. When we do, we might come up with a “Chidush,” a new thought that was not yet revealed.

When one attaches himself to Torah study, he feels connected to the long chain of Torah scholars that began with Moshe on Mount Sinai. It is our responsibility to see that this chain is never broken.