The pattern of case law as in the U . S . law system is found between Torah and Talmud : The Torah includes the Ten Commandments , God ’ s statutes , and ordinances . Torah is The Law . The Talmud includes Case Law , recording decisions which apply Torah to specific cases that have arisen over the centuries .
Therefore , when modern disputes arise , Talmud is looked to in order to apply any precedents from the application of the rules from the Torah .
Consider this , from Luke 13 …
“ Now Yeshua was teaching in one of the synagogues on Shabbat . And behold , there was a woman with a disabling spirit for eighteen years , bent over and completely unable to stand up straight . When Yeshua saw her , He called out to her and said , “ Woman , you are set free from your disability .”
Then He laid hands on her , and instantly she stood up straight and began praising God . But the synagogue leader , indignant that Yeshua had healed on Shabbat , started telling the crowd , “ There are six days in which work should be done — so come to be healed on those days and not on Yom Shabbat !” But the Lord answered him and said , “ Hypocrites ! On Shabbat doesn ’ t each of you untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it away to give it drink ? So , this one , a daughter of Abraham incapacitated by Satan for eighteen years , shouldn ’ t she be set free from this imprisonment on Yom Shabbat ?”
This is literally a case law argument , where the synagogue leader believed that the law of not working on the Sabbath ( the fourth commandment in the Ten Commandments ) prohibited Yeshua from healing this woman .
This kind of debate was common among rabbis and their disciples . Just as lawyers , judges , and legal scholars today debate how the laws and the Constitution should be applied in specific cases , the rabbis , disciples , and lawyers of Yeshua ’ s time debated how to apply Torah in specific cases .
Over time ( starting at or before the Babylonian exile , circa . 600 BCE ), these debates were memorized and later written down . They are often referred to as the “ oral law ” because they began as an oral tradition of interpretation and application .
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