That traditional cry of the scorecard vendors at baseball games might or might not be true.
But it made for a catchy title for this Lead Tidbit. What is definitely true, is that you can't understand the Written Torah without the Oral Torah.
Original title was intended to include the words EXCLUSIVE and INCLUSIVE, but we didn't come up with any wording that would grab you.
So here goes...BEN. What's a BEN? Son? Or child? Exclusive or inclusive.
YOM. What's a YOM? Daytime, as opposed to nighttime? Or a full 24 hour day? Exclusive or inclusive.
CHAMOR. What's a CHAMOR? Donkey? Or any animal? Exclusive or inclusive. And it goes on and on like this in the Torah. V'SHINANTAM L'VANECHA - You shall teach your... sons. Males are obligated to learn Torah for its own sake. Females are not.
They must learn the practical aspects of Torah. Their 'pure' learning is optional and voluntary. Your sons. Exclusive sense.
V'HIGADTA L'VANECHA... And you shall tell about the Exodus to your... children. Males and females are both obligated by Torah law to be on the telling and listening ends of SIPUR Y'TZI'AT MITZRAYIM. Inclusive meaning of the same word.
How are we supposed to know the difference? Torah She'b'al Peh - The Oral Torah. The Oral Law and Tradition. In Ki Teitzei, we have maybe the sharpest example of the BEN question. If a many dies without a BEN, then his brother takes his wife (widow) as a wife (Y'VAMA, in this case), in order to uphold the name of the deceased in Israel.
One can certainly argue that BEN would mean son and not daughter. A daughter does not perpetuate her father's name. A son does.
But there is no YIBUM if the man had any child. Interpret BEN the wrong way and you are permitting an incestuous union.
YOM in the context of Brit Mila and the Four Species of Sukkot is exclusive - it means day and not night. But in the context of Remember the Shabbat Day to sanctify it, night is included in the word YOM. In fact, the main fulfillment of that mitzva is at night - Friday night Kiddush and Havdala on Motza'ei Shabbat. Firstborn donkey (male) is the subject of a mitzva.
No other non-kosher animal is. Chamor is exclusive. OTOH, many times the Torah says Chamor, all other animals are included. Shaatnez is only wool and only linen and only wearing. Exclusive. And on and on. The Written Word and the Oral Law are totally inseparable!
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