The Oral Torah: Why Are the Words of the Sages Binding?

The argument over the authority of the Oral Torah has continued for generations. The Torah was given at Mount Sinai, and its commandments are binding because they come from Hashem. Rabbinic decrees, enactments, and rulings, however, were established in later generations in the study halls and Jewish courts.

How, then, can the Sages describe these later enactments as reflecting a special virtue of the Jewish people? And why would Hashem show favor to Israel because they are meticulous about laws that are not explicitly written in the Torah?

The Maharal explains that the words of the Sages are not an external system added onto the Torah. Rather, they express the living bond between the Jewish people and the Torah. Rabbinic decrees reveal a desire to serve Hashem out of love, while personal restraint expresses holiness and a willingness to go beyond what is strictly required.

The “New” and the “Old”

In Tractate Eruvin 21b, the Sages expound on a verse from Shir HaShirim: “New as well as old, my beloved, I have treasured for You.”

The community of Israel says before Hashem: “I decreed upon myself many more decrees than You decreed upon me, and I fulfilled them.”

The Maharal sees these words as a key to understanding the unique significance of rabbinic commandments.

The “old” refers to the commandments given in the Torah. The “new” refers to the decrees and enactments that the Jewish people accepted upon themselves through their Sages.

Simply fulfilling the written commandments does not necessarily prove that a person serves Hashem out of love. A person might fulfill a commandment out of fear of punishment or simply because it is an obligation. But when someone accepts additional safeguards, boundaries, and precautions where they were not explicitly commanded, it reveals that they are not merely trying to fulfill the minimum requirement.

In the Maharal’s words: “This indicates their own holiness: they do this without compulsion, and it indicates service out of love.”

Someone who serves only out of fear asks: What is the minimum I am required to do?

Someone who serves out of love asks a different question: How can I draw closer? How can I protect what is sacred and strengthen my service of Hashem?

This is why the verse places the “new” before the “old.” It does not mean that the words of the Sages are inherently more important than the commandments of the Torah. Rather, they reveal a unique quality in those who accept them: the desire to serve Hashem beyond the original obligation.

The Maharal also draws attention to the words “my beloved.” Shir HaShirim uses this language to express love, as in the verse, “Your love is better than wine.”

When the community of Israel says, “New as well as old, my beloved, I have treasured for You,” the new commandments, the decrees of the Sages, are described as something treasured for the beloved. The Torah commandment was given from Above, while the rabbinic decree emerged within the Jewish people as a loving response to the Torah they received.

Why Does Hashem Show Favor to Israel?

Tractate Berakhot 20b records a question posed by the ministering angels to Hashem. The Torah describes Hashem as One “Who shows no favor,” yet the Priestly Blessing says, “May Hashem show you favor.” How can both statements be true?

Hashem answers: “Should I not show them favor, when I wrote in My Torah, ‘When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless,’ and they were meticulous with themselves even over an olive-sized portion and an egg-sized portion?”

The Torah requires Birkat HaMazon, Grace After Meals, after a person has eaten and is satisfied. The Sages established binding measures even when a person has eaten a smaller amount. Israel does not wait until reaching the Torah’s full threshold of satiety before reciting the blessing.

Why, then, is Hashem’s favor toward Israel not a contradiction to the principle that He does not show favoritism in judgment?

The Maharal explains that this favor is a precise response to the way the Jewish people themselves behave. They do not limit their service of Hashem to the narrowest letter of the law, and therefore Hashem does not relate to them solely according to the strictest measure of judgment.

In the Maharal’s words: “It is not fitting that He deal with them through judgment alone, but rather beyond the letter of the law, in accordance with how Israel cleave to Him, blessed be He, through a measure that goes beyond the letter of the law.”

A person who seeks compassion from Heaven while living according to the narrowest possible calculation of obligation creates a gap between what they ask for and how they themselves behave.

The Jewish people, however, accepted obligations beyond the explicit written requirement. Hashem therefore responds to them according to the same measure. This is not arbitrary favoritism. It is measure for measure: Israel goes beyond the letter of the law in serving Hashem, and Hashem deals with Israel beyond the letter of strict judgment.

Are Rabbinic Laws Optional?

If rabbinic commandments originally express a desire to go beyond the Torah’s explicit requirements, does that mean observing them is optional?

The answer is no.

In Tractate Yevamot 20a, Abaye says: “Anyone who observes the words of the Sages is called holy.”

Rava challenges this statement. If only someone who observes the words of the Sages is called holy, that seems to imply that someone who does not observe them is simply “not holy,” rather than wicked. But once the Sages have established a binding law, violating it is no longer merely a decision not to take on an additional level of spiritual care. It means violating an obligation.

The Maharal therefore distinguishes between two stages.

When a rabbinic decree was originally established and accepted, the love of the Jewish people for Hashem was revealed. The Sages had not received an explicit Torah command for every individual detail. They recognized the need to establish a safeguard, and the community accepted their words. That acceptance expressed love.

But once the enactment had been accepted, it became binding through the Torah’s commandment: “Do not stray from the matter they tell you.”

As the Maharal writes: “Their very acceptance, when the Sages decreed the commandment,” indicates love, “but after they had already decreed it, one who violates their commandments is certainly wicked.”

This love belongs to the Jewish people as a whole, who collectively accepted the system of rabbinic decrees. An individual cannot remove themselves from that national acceptance and claim that they are satisfied with observing only the Torah’s written laws. The Torah itself grants authority to the Sages, and their binding rulings operate within the framework established by the Torah.

Rava interprets the command “You shall be holy” as meaning: “Sanctify yourself through what is permitted to you.”

This introduces another level. Beyond the binding decrees of the Sages, there is also the realm of personal restraint. Certain things may not have been prohibited by the Torah or the Sages, yet a person may choose to refrain from them in order to distance themselves from materialism or sin and pursue a greater level of holiness.

The words of the Sages bind everyone. Personal restraint in permitted matters, however, belongs to each individual’s own spiritual growth.

The Maharal therefore presents three distinct levels: the commandments of the Torah form the foundational divine obligation; the commandments of the Sages establish binding boundaries for the Jewish people; and “Sanctify yourself through what is permitted to you” describes the realm of personal restraint beyond the boundaries established for the entire community.

Together, these levels reveal that serving Hashem is not merely about asking, “What am I required to do?” It is also about developing a relationship with Torah in which obligation, love, and holiness work together.

Based on the Maharal, Be’er HaGolah, Be’er I, chapter 4.