In stark contrast to today’s Orthodoxy, the Judaism invented by the rabbis following the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE was willing to adapt halakhah (Jewish law) to new social conditions. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the dramatic action taken the great sage Yohanan ben Zakkai in nullifying a biblical commandment on his own authority. I am referring here to the procedure described in the book of Numbers, chapter 5, verses 11-31.
According to these verses, if a husband suspects his wife of being unfaithful, “the man shall bring his wife to the priest [for a trial by ordeal].” (v.14). If she admits her adultery, the husband is granted a divorce, and no further action is taken against the wife. However, if she denies being unfaithful, she is forced to drink the “water of bitterness.” If she survives she is adjudged innocent, but if guilty she will die a gruesome death.
Even though this procedure is prescribed in the Torah, the Talmud reports that it was nullified by R. Yohanan who said: “‘I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery; for they [the husbands] consort with lewd women” (Hosea 4:14), meaning that when the husbands are adulterers, the wives are not punished for their own adultery.’” b.Sotah 47a. In other words, when the law no longer fulfills its purpose, it is modified or abandoned. As discussed in my book, there are many more examples of comparable innovations.
Here is a short video I recently recorded on this subject: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jHwE_L1z4yg
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