Eiruvin 4b

The Rabbis debate about what is known from Sinai and what is known from the Torah.  We cannot argue with Torah law, halacha -- it is written down, and it was given to us directly from G-d, the Rabbis believe.  All other halachot must have been given to Moses at Mount Sinai as oral law.  If we can understand what is Torah law and what is law given to Moses at Mount Sinai, we can understand how strict the rulings should be regarding the larger question at hand: how to best create a partition in an alleyway to clearly demarcate where one will be permitted to carry out on Shabbat.

I learn again that I will not be held liable for eating less than a date-bulk of food on Yom Kippur, a day of complete fasting.  The Torah does not speak of this exception, and thus it must have been stated to Moses at Sinai.  I learn that one's hair changes the halacha regarding ritual immersion, as Leviticus tells us only to immerse "all of our flesh" -- thus the immersion of our hair, not mentioned in this quote from Leviticus, must have been mentioned to Moses at Sinai.  And, closer to our current discussion, I learn that there is a lack of clarity regarding how many cubits (and the size of those cubits) were measured in building the Mishkan and the Temple.  So how can we know exactly how to build this doorway?

The Rabbis attempt to define, demarcate and measure exactly what is required of us in any given situation.  Ultimately, they are working to name what is not known; to create certainty from imprecision.  We all do that in our own ways.  We stereotype, we research, we compare and analyze.  All of those efforts are critical and part of the beauty of being human.  It seems that we live with the developmental imperative to want to know, to understand, to make sense of.  And in the end we are only acting on our guesses - educated, logical, reasonable guesses, but nothing more than that.

The wisdom of the Rabbis pours from these pages, and I would never deny the brilliance and wisdom that has gone into their work.  However, they were human, too, and pages like Eruvin 4b remind me that they were also simply stating their best guess.