Did the Forefathers Keep the Torah?

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1. Tanakh and Archaeology

   Part 4 - The Era of the Forefathers (continued)

   Rabbi Amnon Bazak

   Many social and legal phenomena described in Sefer Bereishit conform to what we know today about the laws and practices of various peoples in the ancient Near East – even though the Torah, given at a later time, explicitly forbade some of these practices. The presentation of the forefathers as people who were active within a socio-legal framework that partly contravened the Torah, proves the familiarity of Sefer Bereishit with the world within which its characters functioned. It is also testimony to the authenticity and honesty of the biblical account, which makes no pretense of presenting the forefathers as operating in accordance with the laws of the Torah, which came later.

2. What Mitzvot Did the Avot Keep?

   Rabbi Menachem Leibtag

   There are those who claim that the Avot kept the entire Torah - even the Oral Law and later Rabbinic prohibitions! Yet many students, when hearing this opinion, find it difficult to accept. In the following shiur, we discuss the pasuk that forms the source for this opinion; the debate among the commentators in regard to its interpretation; and an important lesson we can learn from this entire controversy.

3. Ramban on Toldot: Did the Avot Keep the Torah?

   Rabbi Ezra Bick | 32 minutes

   God promises to Yitzhak and give the Land to his descendants because Avraham kept God's commandments. - The Torah does not use only one word, but rather says that Avraham kept God's "mishmeret", "mitzvot", "chukim", and "torot." What does all this mean? Some commentators explain that the forefathers kept the entire Torah before it was given, but Ramban points out various actions of the forefathers which would have violated some commandments in the Torah. Ramban explains that they kept the entire Torah, but only in the Land of Israel, where there is intrinsic value in keeping the mitzvot even when they are not yet officially binding commandments.

4. How Could Yaakov Marry Rachel after Marrying Leah?

   Rabbi David Silverberg

5. Yaakov, Lavan, Rashi, and the 613 Mitzvot

   Rabbi David Silverberg

6. Vayetze: How Could Yaakov Marry Two Sisters?

   Rabbi David Silverberg | 40 minutes

   According to the view forefathers kept the Torah, how could Yaakov marry two sisters? What is the meaning of the idea that the forefathers kept the Torah? Did the mitzvot only apply in the Land of Israel? Where they stringencies back then, or did they embody higher levels of consciousness?  We explore different ideas about Rachel's marriage and death, and consider the concept of relinquishing stringencies if they come at the expense of another person.

7. Archaeology and the Era of the Forefathers

   Rabbi Amnon Bazak