Just because you weren’t given a mesorah doesn’t mean that there isn’t one (or several! Ayin ponim latorah). Maskilim were dismissed by the torah world because they deviated greatly from the mesorah; if you want to think that it’s a free for all… Well, firstly the mishnah says that torah was passed down (moshe kibel etc) and secondly, chazal say anyone who learned but was not meshamesh talmidei chachamim is an am haaretz. The rambam goes through the chain of mesorah. After chazal, everyone learned from a rebbe – no one just opened a sefer and wrote whatever they wanted. Achronim endeavor tp understand rishonim; have you ever learned reb akiva eiger? He constantly writes “lo zachisi lehavin divreihem hakedoshim”
Menu