Talmudical hermeneutics
Talmudical hermeneutics (Hebrew: מידות שהתורה נדרשת בהן) defines the rules and methods for investigation and exact determination of meaning of the scriptures in the Hebrew Bible, within the framework of Rabbinic Judaism. This in ...
Halakha
''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Torah, Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is ...
. It's an exception in the talmudical hermeneutics, since it doesn't base the law on the cited verse, but uses the verse as a hint.
Sometimes it isn't clear whether the verse has been quoted as an ''asmachta'' or as a source, which can lead to controversy over the ''de'oraita'' or ''derabanan'' quality of the law. An example of such a case is the controversy over ''
berakhah
In Judaism, a ''berakhah'', ''bracha'', ', ' (; pl. , ''berakhot'', '; "benediction," "blessing") is a formula of blessing or thanksgiving, recited in public or private, usually before the performance of a commandment, or the enjoyment of food o ...
she'eina tzricha'' or ''berakhah levatala'', the prohibition to say a prayer outside its context. The Talmud says "Anyone who recites an unnecessary blessing violates the biblical prohibition: '' Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain''". While
Maimonides
Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...
sees it as a source, the
Tosafists
Tosafists were rabbis of France, Germany, Bohemia and Austria, who lived from the 12th to the mid-15th centuries, in the period of Rishonim. The Tosafists composed critical and explanatory glosses (questions, notes, interpretations, rulings and ...
ritual washing in Judaism
In Judaism, ritual washing, or ablution, takes two main forms. ''Tevilah'' () is a full body immersion in a mikveh, and ''netilat yadayim'' is the washing of the hands with a cup (see Handwashing in Judaism).
References to ritual washing are ...
, in which only the hands are washed as a purification ritual. Rabbinic Halakha requires this ritual to be done before eating bread. The
Talmud
The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
attributes this law to ''asmachta''— regarding a ''
zav
In Jewish ritual law, a ''zav'' (; lit. "flowing") is a man who has had abnormal seminal discharge from the male sexual organ, and thus entered a state of ritual impurity. A woman who has had similar abnormal discharge from her genitals is kno ...
,'' the Torah says: "And whomsoever he toucheth that hath the issue, and hath not rinsed his hands in water...". The Talmud takes this as an allusion for a general rinsing of the hands.
* Measures - the specific amounts and sizes of Halakhic objects. For example, the minimum width of ''
Tefillin
Tefillin (Modern Hebrew language, Israeli Hebrew: / ; Ashkenazim, Ashkenazic pronunciation: ; Modern Israeli Hebrew, Modern Hebrew pronunciation: ), or phylacteries, are a set of small black leather boxes with leather straps containing scrolls o ...
'' straps is known through a
law given to Moses at Sinai
A law given to Moses at Sinai () refers to a halakhic law for which there is no biblical reference or source, but rather was passed down orally as a teaching originating from Moses at Sinai. Such teachings have not been derived from any Talmu ...
to be the size of a grain of barley. This and other halakhic measures have their source in ''asmachta''; the Talmud uses the verse of the
Seven Species
The Seven Species (, ''Shiv'at HaMinim'') are seven agricultural products—two grains and five fruits—that are listed in the Hebrew Bible as being special products of the Land of Israel.
The seven species listed are wheat, barley, grape, Ficu ...
as an allusion for all measures that are based on the sizes of various fruits.
Meaning
According to
Maimonides
Moses ben Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (, ) and also referred to by the Hebrew acronym Rambam (), was a Sephardic rabbi and Jewish philosophy, philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah schola ...
, this is only a mnemonic the sages gave, as an aid to memory.
The
Kuzari
The ''Kuzari'', full title ''Book of Refutation and Proof on Behalf of the Despised Religion'' (; : ''Kitâb al-ḥujja wa'l-dalîl fi naṣr al-dîn al-dhalîl''), also known as the Book of the Khazar (: ''Sefer ha-Kuzari''), is one of the most ...
makes a similar statement. "There is a wide difference between these injunctions and the verse. The people, however, accepted these seven laws as tradition, connecting them with the verse as aid to memory."
Yom Tov of Seville
Yom Tov ben Abraham of Seville ( 1260 – 1320; also Asevilli, Assevilli, Ashbili) commonly known by the Hebrew acronym Ritva, ( Rabbi Yom Tov ben Avraham) was a medieval rabbi and rosh yeshiva of the Yeshiva of Seville, known for his commentarie ...
objects to Maimonides' explanation, and claims that God himself devised the various ''asmachta'' sources and embedded them in the Torah as allusions to be used by the sages.Ritva commentary to tractate Rosh Hashana page 16a in the paragraph starting with the word 'Tanya'; Hebrew source text: "שכל מה שיש לו אסמכתא מן התורה העיד הקדוש ברוך הוא שראוי לעשות כן אלא שלא קבעו חובה ומסרו לחכמים, וזה דבר ברור ואמת ולא כדברי המפרשים האסמכתות שהוא כדרך סימן שנתנו חכמים ולא שכוונה התורה לכך, חס וחלילה, ישתקע הדבר ולא יאמר, שזו דעת מינות הוא, אבל התורה העידה בכך ומסרה חיוב הדבר לקבעו חכמים אם ירצו, כמו שכתוב ועשית את הדבר על פי הדבר אשר יגידו לך ולפיכך תמצא החכמים נותנין בכל מקום ראיה או זכר או אסמכתא לדבריהם מן התורה, כלומר שאינם מחדשים דבר מלבם, וכל תורה שבעל פה רמוזה בתורה שהיא תמימה וחס ושלום שהיא חסירה כלום".