Israelites, Pharisees & Sadducees In The 21st Century Church

compared to the practices of the Sadducees, in other cases, Pharisaic law was less
strict. For example, Jewish law prohibits Jews from carrying objects from a private
domain ("reshut ha-yachid") to a public domain ("reshut ha-rabim") on Sabbath. This law
could have prevented Jews from carrying cooked dishes to the homes of friends for
Sabbath meals. The Pharisees ruled that adjacent houses connected by lintels or
fences could become connected by a legal procedure creating a partnership among
homeowners; thereby, clarifying the status of those common areas as a private domain
relative to the members of the partnership. In that manner people could carry objects
from building to building.
Innovators or Preservers
The Mishna in the beginning of Avot and (in more detail) Maimonides in his Introduction
to Mishneh Torah records a chain of tradition (mesorah) from Moses at Mount Sinai
down to R' Ashi, redactor of the Talmud and last of the Amoraim. This chain of tradition
includes the interpretation of unclear statements in the Bible (e.g. that the "fruit of a
beautiful tree" refers to a citron as opposed to any other fruit), the methods of textual
exegesis (the disagreements recorded in the Mishna and Talmud generally focus on
methods of exegesis), and Laws with Mosaic authority that cannot be derived from the
Biblical text (these include measurements (e.g. what amount of a non-kosher food must
one eat to be liable), the amount and order of the scrolls to be placed in the
phylacteries, etc.).
The Pharisees were also innovators in that they enacted specific laws as they saw
necessary according to the needs of the time. These included prohibitions to prevent an
infringement of a biblical prohibition (e.g. one does not take a Lulav on Shabbat "Lest
one carry it in the public domain") called gezeirot, among others. The commandment to
read the Megillah (Book of Esther) on Purim and to light the Menorah on Hanukkah are
Rabbinic innovations. Much of the legal system is based on "what the sages
constructed via logical reasoning and from established practice". Also, the blessings
before meals and the wording of the Amidah. These are known as Takanot. The
Pharisees based their authority to innovate on the verses: "....according to the word they
tell you... according to all they instruct you. According to the law they instruct you and
according to the judgment they say to you, you shall do; you shall not divert from the
word they tell you, either right or left" (Deuteronomy 17:10–11) (see Encyclopedia
Talmudit entry "Divrei Soferim").
In an interesting twist, Abraham Geiger posits that the Sadducees were the more
hidebound adherents to an ancient Halacha whereas the Pharisees were more willing to
develop Halacha as the times required. See however, Bernard Revel's "Karaite
Halacha" which rejects many of Geiger's proofs.
Significance of Debate and Study of The Law
Just as important as (if not more important than) any particular law was the value the
rabbis placed on legal study and debate. The sages of the Talmud believed that when
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