The Unbroken Chain

Understanding the Mesorah of the Jewish Oral Tradition Our entire lives revolve around our commitment to Hashem's mitzvos. Yet, hardly a single mitzvah in the written Torah can be understood on its own. What defines the forbidden "work" on Shabbos, the "affliction" on Yom Kipur, or the day of "blowing an instrument" on Rosh Hashana? How shall we tie "words for a sign" upon our hand? So little is revealed in the Written Torah. At Matan Torah, each and every mitzvah was explained in all its details to Moshe Rabbeinu, in what we call the Oral Torah. This Oral Torah explanation is the only way to understand - and the only true meaning of - what is contained in the written Torah. The study of Torah sheb'al Peh is the neshama and the life essence of Klal Yisroel. We have dedicated ourselves to it and made tremendous sacrifices to maintain it. Yet in our time of weakened emunah, the confidence in the Oral Torah system has also diminished. Indeed, the system of the Oral Torah seems to be a mystery: How could it have been passed down authentically for thousands of years? Could the multitude of details have been retained through memorization alone, with no written texts to lighten the burden? Seeing as the Oral Torah was given by G-d (in all its details) at Mount Sinai, how did disagreements come about? Can Rabbinic laws actually be binding when they are human inventions? These obvious questions were surely not overlooked by all the wise Rabbis throughout history. Rabbi Akiva, Rashi and the Rambam most certainly thought of them! Indeed, the greatest minds of all generations adhered to the Oral Torah unswervingly, kept its rules and regulations to the letter, and never expressed any doubts. Why? Because they understood the system of the Oral Torah properly, and when that happens, all questions disappear. Written by a master-mechanech and expert in the field, The Unbroken Chain offers everyone, young or old, the opportunity to comprehend the system of the Oral Torah and answer its related questions with ease. Never before has such a work become available to the broader community. Considering its subject, depth, and comprehensive explanation, this unique work is sure to be classic. In this fascinating book, Rabbi Sapirman shows that the Oral Torah we have today is the original, authentic one that was given to Moshe Rabbeinu on Mount Sinai. This unique and necessary book explains many puzzling issues, and will undoubtedly bring considerable chizuk to the Emunah in Torah sheb'al Peh. About the Author: Rabbi Dovid Sapirman is a former talmid of the Philadelphia, Ponivez, and Lakewood Yeshivos. During his fifty years in the field of chinuch, he has been a, melamed, magid shiur, mashgiach ruchani, public speaker, and worked extensively in kiruv rechokim and kiruv k'rovim. With nearly five decades of experience focusing on reinforcing core emunah, he founded the Ani Ma'amin Foundation in 2009. It is dedicated to offering chizuk in Emunah to Bnei Torah of all ages and backgrounds. Since its creation, the foundation has held presentations for over 50,000 people around the world, created three popular series of CD's on inyanei emunah, and published the Emunah: A Refresher Course (Mosaica Press, 2015). Rabbi Sapirman lives in Toronto, Canada, with his family.