The Talmud says that "Even what a diligent student
was destined to teach before his master was already
said to Moses at Sinai" (Yerushalmi Peah 2:6), but
this may not be intended literally, i.e. it may
mean only that all these things were implicit in
what was said to Moses at Sinai. The Talmud
(Menachos 29b) tells us that G-d allowed Moses to
attend a lecture by Rabbi Akiva, but Moses didn't
understand the discussion; this implies that the
details of the material in the Talmud and Midrash
weren't (yet) known to Moses. The basic Oral
Law was certainly communicated to Moses, but the
Oral Law has continued to expand ever since in
response to the needs of every generation.
Ask a follow-up question |
