A Goy is not allowed to study the Torah - Rabbi Michael Danielov

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Jewish law and HalakhaTorah study and educationNon-Jewish engagement with Jewish textsOral TorahGemara and Kabbalah

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This talk presents a traditional Jewish legal position on the boundaries of Torah education for non-Jews. The speaker outlines specific restrictions: non-Jews are not permitted to study the Oral Torah, Gemara, or Halakha, though they may read the written Torah (Tanakh) in a straightforward manner without interpretive commentary or midrash. The speaker explains that these restrictions exist because the Oral Torah is designated exclusively for Jews. A key halakhic principle discussed is that Jews are themselves prohibited from teaching the Oral Torah to non-Jews, making such instruction a transgression. The speaker emphasizes the seriousness of these boundaries and expresses strong disapproval of what he characterizes as violations of this principle, particularly criticizing the practice of teaching Kabbalah to non-Jews.

Key Points

A traditional Jewish law perspective on non-Jewish Torah study, explaining that non-Jews are prohibited from learning the Oral Torah and Halakha, while Jews are forbidden from teaching these texts to non-Jews.

Summary

This talk presents a traditional Jewish legal position on the boundaries of Torah education for non-Jews. The speaker outlines specific restrictions: non-Jews are not permitted to study the Oral Torah, Gemara, or Halakha, though they may read the written Torah (Tanakh) in a straightforward manner without interpretive commentary or midrash. The speaker explains that these restrictions exist because the Oral Torah is designated exclusively for Jews. A key halakhic principle discussed is that Jews are themselves prohibited from teaching the Oral Torah to non-Jews, making such instruction a transgression. The speaker emphasizes the seriousness of these boundaries and expresses strong disapproval of what he characterizes as violations of this principle, particularly criticizing the practice of teaching Kabbalah to non-Jews.

Key takeaways

Non-Jews are prohibited from learning or studying the Oral Torah, Gemara, and Halakha according to traditional Jewish law.
Non-Jews may read the written Torah (Tanakh) only in a straightforward manner without commentary, midrash, or interpretation.
The Oral Torah is specifically designated for Jewish students and is not intended for non-Jewish learners.
Jews are halakhically forbidden from teaching the Oral Torah to non-Jews, and doing so constitutes a transgression.
Teaching advanced Jewish texts or Kabbalah to non-Jews is presented as a violation of traditional Jewish law and is strongly disapproved of.
The boundaries between permitted and prohibited Torah study for non-Jews are part of a formal halakhic framework.

Full article

Torah Study and Non-Jewish Restrictions

According to traditional Jewish law, non-Jews are not allowed to learn Torah, study Gemara, or study halakha. They are permitted to read the Bible—the Tanakh—but only without commentary or midrash. They can read the Tanakh in a straightforward way simply to understand it, but they are not allowed to learn or study the Oral Torah. The reason for this restriction is that the Oral Torah is specifically designated for Jews, not for non-Jews.

Teaching Non-Jews and Halakhic Consequences

Because the Oral Torah is reserved for Jews, Jews are not permitted to teach it to non-Jews. If someone teaches a non-Jew the Oral Torah, they are violating a halakhic principle and committing a transgression. The speaker emphasizes that one should not teach non-Jews, and points out that teaching them Torah texts like those studied on Shabbat or other advanced Jewish studies is inappropriate. The speaker also criticizes what he describes as foolish people in Warsaw who teach Kabbalah to non-Jews, calling this a form of madness and expressing strong disapproval of such practices.

Topics#Jewish law and Halakha#Torah study and education#Non-Jewish engagement with Jewish texts#Oral Torah#Gemara and Kabbalah#Religious boundaries and restrictions#Traditional Jewish perspective

Transcript

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0:00 A girl is not allowed to learn Torah, you know, study Torah, study Gemara, study halakha, you know, things like this.

0:05 You know, they can read the Bible, you know, they can read the Tanakh.

0:08 I mean, with no perush, you know, no, no midrash, just a regular, you know, just to, to understand the, the Tanakh, they're allowed to read the Tanakh, but they're not allowed to learn to write the oral Torah.

0:20 They're not allowed to learn.

0:21 Why?

0:22 Because it says right.

0:26 Right.

0:26 It's for us, not for the game, you know, so they're not allowed to learn Tora, Tora, Shabbat.

0:32 So therefore, you see from there, right, that we're not allowed to teach them, you know, the oral Torah, if you teach them you're being this good, you know, you're being martial.

0:41 No good, right?

0:42 So don't teach a girl, you know, and all these things.

0:45 You know what, midrashim?

0:47 What's it your business to teach them?

0:49 Oh, all in Warsaw, right?

0:50 He's retarded, you know, retarded people who are teaching him Kabbalah.

0:53 You know, you're crazy teaching Kabbalah.

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