Fences, Omission, And Misinterpretation The Yoma And...

Jordan Weisz Religion 135 Zachary Braiterman October 27, 2014 Fences, Omission, and Misinterpretation: The Yoma and Leviticus 16 It is commonly assumed that all laws in Judaic culture stem from the teachings of the written Torah, also known as the Tanach. However, in actuality, there is also an oral version of the Torah. This oral version of the Torah essentially acts as a collection of teachings that inform and interpret the scripture, making it possible to understand exactly what everything means. As its name suggests, teachers verbally delivered the Oral Torah to their students as they studied the Torah. Then, in the second century the Jewish people were defeated. They had no homeland, and became dispersed throughout the world. It was then, without access to Jerusalem, a temple, or the entire population, that the Oral Torah was canonized so that it would not be lost forever. Thus, the Mishnah, a written compilation of the Oral Torah, was created in a time when the writers had no practical knowledge of the matters in which they often discuss. The fifth tractate of the second order of the Mishnah is an entit led â€Å"Yoma,† and elaborates upon the laws and regulations of Yom Kippur, previously outlined in Leviticus 16. However, after contrasting these two texts it is undeniably discernable that the rabbis are uncertain and occasionally incorrect regarding their interpretation of the laws surrounding Yom Kippur, and the biblical scripture itself. They attempt to modernize the