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The Basics of Judaism: G-d & Torah: The Oral Law:

What is the subject matter of the Oral Law? Was it ever written down?

Moses was given an Oral Law together with the Written Law. The Oral Law included many things that were necessary for effective understanding of the Written Law, for example details about honoring parents, observing the Sabbath, etc. It also included some things that are independent of the Written Law, such as some of the observances in the Temple on Tabernacles (the water libation and the procession around the altar with willows), but such things seem to be rare. Thus most of the Oral Law explains and supplements the Written Law. The Oral Law was of the same Divine origin as the Written Law. But after the Written and Oral Laws were given to Moses, oral laws continued to be added by the Rabbis, beginning with Moses himself; thus the Divine part of the Oral Law was immediately succeeded by parts that were of human origin (though they too were Divinely inspired). A compilation of the oral laws, the Mishnah, was codified by Rabbi Judah the Prince, head of the Sanhedrin, about 150 years after the destruction of the Second Temple, i.e. about 1800 years ago; but it has continued to grow since that time. One of the most comprehensive codes is Maimonides' Mishneh Torah, written around 1200 C.E.
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