Mesora

The Mesorah
 


©Copyright 2010 Kabbalah Made Easy, Inc. Max Weiman
No parts of this work, except what is allowable by law, may be reproduced in any way without expressed written consent of the author.



Copies may be ordered by contacting Rabbi Weiman at mweiman@kabbalahmadeeasy.com or 314—814-6629
 

The Mesorah

Sure we’re all familiar with the holy Bible, the Torah, Five Books of Moses, that sacred scroll that is removed from its velvety cover and read in the synagogue amongst devotional fanfare. It’s important to know that while Judaism values the written Torah as the holiest object on earth, and our religion is based on the authenticity of this document, and the truth of the words and ideas therein, nonetheless, the oral Torah, is just as important, if not more important as the backbone of our religion. People refer to the nation of Israel as the “People of the Book”, when in fact, a more appropriate term may be the “People of the Mouth”.
When God gave Moses the written Torah, He also gave him an oral Torah, an explanation of everything in the written Torah, as well as ideas and principles that couldn’t be communicated in writing.
Amazingly we not only continue to have the majority of this oral tradition still intact, vibrant, and usable, after 3300 years or so, but we also have retained a historical record of the major figures that have handed over the transmission of the entirety or the bulk of this word-of-mouth-conveyance of the Almighty’s message and mission to mankind. This historical record is the purpose of this pamphlet.
Here is a timeline, and recording of the names of the sages and holy people who shared in the responsibility to transfer the mesorah, the tradition. While this may not be as fun to read as Harry Potter and the Magic Prostate, it should be an honored keepsake of yours to peruse once in a while and recharge your confidence in the “tradition”.


But wait. Before we do that, we should also note the original mesorah which we don’t usually refer to as the “mesorah” yet our tradition is that there was a type of mesorah in existence before we got the Torah. This original mesorah contained a ton of ethical and mystical information. There are two mystical books that predate the Torah, which most likely were part of this mesorah. They are Sefer Raziel, attributed to Adam, and Sefer Yetzira, attributed to Abraham.

 
Part I
Pre-Torah Mesorah
1. Adam (3760-2830 BCE) Lived in the Middle East somewhere in or around modern day Iraq. Author of Sefer Raziel, a book of mysticism that the angel Raziel taught him.



2. Chanoch (3138-2773 BCE) Middle East. Great great great great grandson of Adam. He was so pure and holy that he did not need to die, he entered the next world body and soul intact. While he is a relatively unknown Biblical figure, nonetheless this shoemaker was a link in the chain. When he made shoes, it was a mystical experience.


3. Noach (2704-1754 BCE) Middle East. Great grandson of Chanoch. As the lone survivor of the flood, became like the new “Adam” for mankind.


4. Shem (2202-1602 BCE) Middle East. Son of Noah. Established a study-house of the ethical/mystical mesorah with his great grandson, Ever.

5. Avraham (1812-1637 BCE) Lived in Ur, moved throughout Middle East including Egypt. Great great great great grandson of Ever. After coming to an understanding of the Creator on his own, he studied with Shem and Ever. He emulated and epitomized God’s attribute of loving-kindness. Author of Sefer Yetzira, he was an expert astrologer and focused on bringing Godliness into the world.



6. Yitzchak (1712-1532 BCE) Canaan. (later called Land of Israel) Son of Avraham. Exemplified inner strength and discipline.

7. Yaakov (1652-1515 BCE) Journeyed from Canaan around Middle East including region of modern day northern Iraq/southern Turkey. Son of Yitzchak. Harmonized loving-kindness with inner strength.


8. Yosef (1561-1451 BCE) Viceroy in Egypt. Son of Yaakov. Perfected the ability to battle the yetzer hara, the desire to turn from God.

(Two other sons of Yaakov, besides Yosef, who were associated as tribes that were the torchbearers of the study of the mesorah before and after the giving of the Torah were Issachar and Levi.)
9. Amram (1510-1373 BCE) Egypt. Grandson of Levi. Was leader of the nation of Israel in Egypt.

10. Moshe (1392-1272 BCE) Egypt with sojourns in the Middle East. Son of Amram. Due to his humility was a pure conduit for the new mesorah of the Torah, which was intended before creation to be revealed at some time.



 
Part II

With the revelation on Mt. Sinai in 1232 BCE, a new mesorah is established nullifying the previous ethics, but not necessarily nullifying the mystical wisdom that had been part of the previous mesorah. Those ideas still define the spiritual design of the universe.
Torah Mesorah with Prophecy
1. Moshe (1392-1272 BCE) Along with Moshe sat a group of sages called the Sanhedrin. Each of the following leaders sat at the head of such a delegation that would rule on issues that concerned the entire nation.

2. Yehoshua (1354-1244 BCE) Land of Israel. The quintessential student, never leaving Moshe’s side.

3. Pinchus Land of Israel. Son of Elazar. Grandson of Moshe’s brother Aaron. Originally, Moshe sat and a taught a set of principles in front of Yehoshua and Aaron, then Aaron’s sons, then the elders, then others. Then Moshe would leave and Aaron would repeat the teachings. Then Aaron would leave and his sons would repeat. This way the leaders heard the teachings numerous times. Then they would repeat to themselves over and over until the ideas were ingrained in them and memorized.

4. Eli (988 - 889 BCE) Land of Israel. Simultaneously held all three leadership positions: High Priest, King, and Head of Sanhedrin

5. Shmuel (931 - 879 BCE) Land of Israel. Prophet. Son of Elkanah. While some of the previous rulers had a technical status as king, Shmuel was the prophet who actually ushered in the official start of kings for Israel by anointing Shaul, the first official king.









6. David (906-836 BCE) Land of Israel. Prophet. King par excellence. All future monarchs must come from him. And the Messiah is destined to come from him. He taught us how to repent with his example. Mystically, one of the most important figures in all of history.

7. Achia HaShiloni (1381-797 BCE) Land of Israel. Believe it or not, lived 584 years. Kabbalistic lore says that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was a reincarnation of Achia, and also that Achia came from the spiritual realm to teach the Baal Shem Tov on a regular basis.

8. Eliahu (870-726 BCE) Land of Israel. Prophet. Most famous of all the 48 known prophets. He did not die nor move to the next world, but exists in a quasi spiritual realm that allows him to visit people who are still in this world. In the future he will usher in the time of the Moshiach.

9. Elisha (d. 717 BCE) Land of Israel. Prophet. Disciple of Eliahu. He repeated some of Eliahu’s feats like reviving a dead child, and other miracles.

10. Yehoyada (725-695 BCE) Land of Israel. High Priest. Saved the Davidic dynastic line by hiding future King Yoash as an infant in the Temple, the only one in line to throne not murdered.

11. Zecharia ben Yehoyada (d.680 BCE) Land of Israel. Prophet. Son of Yehoyada. Prophet. Fortold the end of Yoash’s kingdom for not following Yehoyada’s moral instruction. Yoash had Zechariah killed and his bubbling blood miraculously could not be cleaned from the courtyard of the Temple.

12. Hoshea (d.575 BCE) Land of Israel. Prophet. In a strange demonstration of rebuke, God requires this holy and righteous prophet to marry a prostitute.

13. Amos (d. 560 BCE) Land of Israel. Prophet. Rose from obscurity as a man of the people and rebuked both kingdoms, often against the wealthy for not taking care of the poor.

14. Yeshayahu (d.548) Land of Israel. Prophet. Described in many ways the Messianic Era. His book is often quoted as the Haftarah.

15. Micha (d.560) Land of Israel. Prophet. These last four prophets/sages lived in the same time period. During this period the books of Solomon : Proverbs, Song of Songs, and Ecclesiastes, were codified.

16. *Yoel (d.510) Land of Israel. Prophet. While the time period that covers the next four leaders was politically tumultuous, the sages were always devoted to keeping the mesora in tact and teaching Torah non-stop. And these three* were all in the same time period, but still managed to hand over the mesorah one to the other.

17. *Nachum (d.510) Land of Israel. Prophet.

18. *Chavakuk (d.510) Land of Israel. Prophet.

19. Tzefania (d.460) Land of Israel. Prophet. Since he was the leading sage, he pronounced his prophecies in the study houses and synagogues while Yimeyahu pronounced his prophecies in the streets.

20. Yirmeyahu (d.462)Land of Israel. Prophet. Had quite a wild life, battling false prophets, trying to get the exiled tribes to come back to Israel, witnessing the final downfall of Jerusalem and exile.










21. Baruch ben Neriah (d.347) Land of Israel. Prophet, but not the leading prophet (who was Daniel). He was the first leading sage to be in exile.

22. Ezra (d.348) Babylonia. Some say he was also a prophet. Brought a large population back to Israel to reestablish a semi-autonomous Jewish state (with a Temple and Sanhedrin) after his mentor, Baruch ben Neriah, passed away.

This ends the period of prophecy that started with Moshe. A prophet has a special mission to exhort the people for their moral failings and areas of spiritual needs. However, as a sage in a debate, their status as a prophet held no sway in effecting a decision. The following sages made up a special time period that founded the oral tradition as a unified body of statements called the Mishnah.