Sicha, Shabbos Pinchas 5744
And Sicha, Purim 5719
A. The Sadducees
During the Second Temple era, two major movements developed among the Jewish people: the Sadducees, who believed only in the Written Torah, and the Pharisees, who believed that alongside the Written Torah, an Oral Torah was also given—consisting of explanations, principles, and methods of interpretation transmitted from generation to generation. Megillat Taanit describes how Rabbi Shimon ben Shatach worked to remove Sadducean influence from the Sanhedrin (Source 1).
B. Examples of the Sadducee-Pharisee Disputes
Here are several examples of disputes between the Pharisees and the Sadducees:
“And they shall spread out the garment before the elders of the city.” Our Sages explain that this does not refer to an actual garment, but to examining the truth and presenting the arguments. The Sadducees interpreted the verse literally (Source 2).
“And she shall spit in his face.” Our Sages explained that during chalitzah, the woman spits on the ground, in front of her brother-in-law. The Sadducees interpreted the verse literally, as requiring the woman to spit in his face (Source 3).
“An eye for an eye.” Our Sages explained that this refers to financial compensation for the injury, while the Sadducees understood the verse literally (Source 4).
C. The Common Thread
The Rebbe explains that the three examples in which the Sadducees disagreed with the tradition of our Sages share a common theme: love for a fellow Jew.
“An eye for an eye”—Rabbi Saadia Gaon explains that if we were to take an eye for an eye literally, we might cause the person responsible for the injury greater harm than the injury caused to the victim. Financial compensation, however, makes it possible to compensate the injured person according to the actual value of the damage.
“And they shall spread out the garment”—when someone slanders a Jewish woman, the falsehood of the accusation must be proven. However, this must not be done in a way that harms her dignity. Our Sages therefore explained that the matter is examined before the court in a dignified manner.
“And she shall spit in his face”—the Sadducees interpreted this to mean that the woman must spit in the brother-in-law’s face, causing him great humiliation. Our Sages, with love for a fellow Jew, explained that she spits on the ground.
