Why not Karaite? Pt 2/6

Stolen with kind permission of my friend Omedyashar.
CLAIM 2: II Kings 22:8 & II Chr. 34:15 reports that the written Torah was both lost and completely forgotten for over 50 years and only rediscovered by the Temple priests (2Ki 22,8; 2Chr 34,15). It is inconceivable that an Oral Law could have been remembered when even the written Law was forgotten.

REPLY:

According to the Bible (1 Kings 19:18), a pious minority certainly existed during the time of 2 Kings 22:8; though it may have been inconceivable for them to remember all of the Talmud, it is not inconceivable that from childhood they had memorized a list of the 613 commandments of the Written Torah, together with the Oral Instruction from Sinai - which is consists of less than the 613 commandments of the written Torah. However, this was not even necessary, for the preservation of the Oral Instruction. Why?

...Because 2Kings 22:8 & 2 Chronicles 34:15 simply do NOT state that the Written Torah was either lost or completely forgotten.

If Torah was truly lost - how could it be written about Yoshiyahu (Josiah) that
"he did uprightness in the eyes of YHWH, and walked in all the way of his father David, and he didn't turn aside to the right or left." (2 Kings 22:2; 2Ch 34:2) Is it possible to walk in ALL the way of King David, without knowing Torah??

2 Kings 22 and 2 Chr. 34 simply teaches that a Torah Scroll written by the hand of Moses had been found
in the Temple ( see: 2Chr. 34:14). It may not have even been truly lost. It may have been placed away by the idolatrous priests. And this in no way means that there was no other preserved copy of the written Torah known to exist. The text simply does not say such. Instead, we see that these same passages refer to prophets (2Kings 22:14), in addition to religious scribes (2Ch. 34:13 ...and what do scribes do?). How do prophets know to live righteously to the point of being granted prophecy, if they are without the guidance of Torah? How do the scribes know what their obligations are, or the king know what his abilities and limits are, without Torah? How would the high priest Hhilqiyah (2Kings 22:4) know what his function is, or the Levites their tasks (2Chr. 34:12), without familiarity with the Torah? These Biblical passages simply don't state what the Karaite argument claims. To the contrary...

The Torah states, "(plural imperative:) Write for yourselves this song, teach it to the descendents of Israel...; and it shall be that when many calamities and distresses come upon them, this song shall witness against them as a testimony. FOR IT SHALL NOT BE FORGOTTEN OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF THEIR SEED." (Deu. 31:19-21) ...even if it is only a remnant of seven thousand (1Kings 19:18).

In our time as well, the location of the Torah written by Moses' hand is unknown - but by itself doesn't mean that accurate copies of His Torah remain preserved. If the Torah from Moses' own hand were recovered in our times, imagine the great spirit of repentance and national rededication this would likely inspire. If this were to happen today, should we consider such a reaction an expected reaction, or would such a reaction mean that we thought the Torah had been totally lost up until the Torah by Moses' hand was recovered?

This argument works upon a misunderstanding as to what the divinely ordained Oral Instruction actually is. This argument is stated as follows, "IF even the Written Torah was forgotten, it is inconceivable they remembered the much larger body of 'Oral Law' (Here they're thinking great bulk of Talmudic Lit.) REPLY: the Oral Instruction from Mt. Sinai is SHORTER than the written text of the Torah. Rambam, possibly the greatest and most influential of Talmudic scholars, taught that only around 30 of the laws found in the Talmud, fall under the category of "Oral Instruction to Moses from Mt. Sinai." It is only this type of Oral Instruction which can not be derived from the Written Torah; Though this type of Oral Instruction can't be derived from the Written Torah, it does not consist of additional commandments. It only consists of HOW to implement the 613 commandments which already appear in the Written Torah. So, despite not being derivable from the Written Torah, it IS necessitated by the Written Torah.

NOW, having what I've just stated in mind - even IF the written Torah had been lost, this in no way means that the Oral Instruction from Mt. Sinai had been lost or forgotten. The size of Talmudic Lit. shouldn't make this implausible, because the bulk of Talmudic Lit. does NOT consist of Oral Instruction from Mt. Sinai.

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