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Biblical Criticism and Halakha
Question
Dear Rabbi,
I'm a Jewish college student who has recently become interested in Biblical Criticism. I don't understand why Conservative rabbis believe Jewish law is binding. If the Documentary Hypothesis is correct, then the Torah that we have today is really just a collection of multiple sources with contradictory opinions on law and history. How can people continue to obey Jewish law once they agree with this theory? Sanctification by the Jewish people for generations is an answer that I've heard, but that really doesn't seem like a valid reason considering that Judaism believes in free will and that the Jewish people have been punished for sinning before (proving that the community could be wrong). Your opinion would be appreciated.
Answer
I do not see any contradiction in considering Jewish Law as binding, and accepting Biblical Criticism.
As you may know, the Conservative Movement is very pluralistic, and you will
find among its Rabbis, a range of opinions concerning the author/authors of the Torah. Some believe it is the word of God written down by Moses while others
maintain that the Torah as we have it today is composed of several sources. This does not mean that one cannot still believe that this text is divinely inspired and that the man or men who wrote the text of the Torah express God's will, and even that this will was revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai.
This approach is not related to the fact that the Conservative Movement considers itself bound by Jewish Law. Even if people are granted free will, they nevertheless need a common Law to regulate their life as a group and as individuals within the group. Therefore when the Hebrews left Egypt, they had to give themselves a Law to become a people. One can choose to believe that God gave this law to Moses on Mount Sinai or not.
Regardless of one's belief in the veracity of that story one can feel bound by the Law that our people received or gave themselves more than three thousand years ago.
Jewish Law is not only comprised of the Written Law but it is also an Oral Law. Torah is the basic law which we acknowledge as such and its origin (whether
you believe it to be divine, inspired by God or totally human) is irrelevant to the halakhic process itself. The Halakha (Jewish Law) is the result of the commentaries and understanding of written and oral traditions by the sages for many generations. Each generation adding and changing the existing laws according to the realities and the needs of that time. When the sages commented and applied the laws given in the Torah, they consider the Torah as an whole - both Written and Oral - and it did not really matter who actually physically transcribed the written text. Halakha is a dynamic Law grounded in the Torah, but the Law is an Oral Law. We in the Conservative Movement believe this Law evolves with history.
To feel bonded to the Law is to feel bonded to the history of our people, and to express the belief that Halakha does reflect God's will.
I hope I made things clearer to you,
Rabbi Monique Susskind Goldberg
January 2006
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