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Torah Before Sinai


Question:

How is it that our Forefathers studied Torah before it was given at Mt. Sinai? What exactly were they studying and what about the portions related to the stories of their own lives?



AskTheRabbi.org answered:

The Torah our Forefathers studied and lived was not the Torah that we have with the narratives and the "stories" of what happened to the individuals mentioned in the Torah. Rather, it was the blueprint for all Mitzvot. It was so extensive that the Talmud actually relates that Abraham kept all the Mitzvot even the Rabbinical ones! How did they know what to keep? The Talmud explains that they had an inner understanding of what it is that God wanted from them.


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