Why Do We Need Rabbis? Understanding the Importance of the Oral Torah

Oren asks: "I am a baal teshuvah, and I have often heard people who are not religious argue that every Jew should follow the Torah according to their own understanding, without relying on rabbis. How should I respond?"

Hello, Oren, and thank you for your question.

The Talmud tells of a non-Jew who approached Hillel the Elder and asked to be taught only the Written Torah, without the Oral Torah. On the first day, Hillel taught him the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. The following day, however, he reversed them, identifying aleph as bet and so on. The man protested, "But yesterday you taught me something different!" Hillel replied that just as the man had trusted him to teach the alphabet, he should also trust him regarding the tradition of the Oral Torah. The man accepted this lesson and converted to Judaism (Shabbat 31a).

Why the Written Torah Cannot Stand Alone

The Torah is not merely a book of recommendations, but a collection of Divine commandments upon which the existence and spiritual well-being of the Jewish people depend. How can we know what Hashem expects of us? Anyone who studies the Torah carefully will discover that many commandments cannot be understood or practiced without an accompanying tradition.

For example, the Torah states, "Whoever performs work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death" (Exodus 31:15), but does not define precisely which activities constitute prohibited work. Similarly, it commands, "You shall slaughter ... as I have commanded you" (Deuteronomy 12:21), without explaining the laws of ritual slaughter. The instruction to "write them upon the doorposts of your house and upon your gates" (Deuteronomy 11:20) does not specify the precise contents and requirements of a mezuzah.

These examples illustrate a fundamental principle: The Written Torah frequently presents commandments without the details necessary for their observance because their explanations were transmitted through the Oral Torah. Without this tradition, individuals would be left to determine the meaning and practical application of the commandments according to their own interpretations.

The Torah Commands Us to Follow Our Sages

The authority of Torah scholars is not a later invention. The Torah itself instructs the Jewish people to follow the rulings of their sages: "According to the teaching that they instruct you and according to the judgment that they tell you, you shall act. You shall not deviate from the word that they tell you, either to the right or to the left" (Deuteronomy 17:9–11).

The foundations of this authority were established during the generation of Moshe Rabbeinu. Hashem instructed Moshe to gather seventy elders of Israel, declaring, "I will draw upon the spirit that is upon you and place it upon them" (Numbers 11:16–17). These elders were granted Divine inspiration and formed the foundation of the Sanhedrin, establishing a tradition of Torah leadership and interpretation that continued through successive generations of sages.

Remarkably, the Sanhedrin continued to issue halachic rulings and administer justice for approximately 350 years after the destruction of the Second Temple. Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi, who compiled the six orders of the Mishnah, served as its head and was a descendant of Hillel the Elder, who had led the Sanhedrin while the Temple still stood.

An Unbroken Tradition from Moshe Rabbeinu

When we study the Mishnah and Gemara, we are not simply reading the personal opinions of ancient scholars. We are studying the teachings and interpretations preserved by the sages of the Sanhedrin and their disciples, transmitted from generation to generation through a tradition reaching back to Moshe Rabbeinu.

The Written Torah and Oral Torah are therefore inseparable. The former provides the commandments, while the latter preserves the explanations necessary to understand and observe them. Following the guidance of our rabbis and the great Torah sages of Israel does not mean replacing Hashem's authority with human judgment. Rather, it means remaining faithful to the tradition through which His commandments have been understood, preserved, and practiced throughout the generations.