The Oral Torah

First things first, it's Friday, and I'd like to greet my opponent with Shabbat Shalom.Now let's get to it.The circumcision argument:This requires being familiar with the original Hebrew version, and Con is going to have to take my word for it if he isn't proficient in "Lashon HaKodesh". (This isn't a jab at you, just a slight disclaimer.) This is also going to be quite heavy on linguistics, which is why I didn't elaborate on it much in the previous round.The Biblical Hebrew word, which I will transliterate as Orla, is equated with "foreskin" in all translations I know. In the Hebrew Bible, however, the root refers to some kind of coverage and closure, not necessarily the foreskin. In Deuteronomy 10:16, it refers to closure of one's heart, and in Jeremiah 6:10 to the sealing of one's ear (translations to English took it as a metaphor and used the same circumcision-based terminology, but this is inaccurate). Thus, we don't actually know from the text what kind of "seal" on the body it refers to. While in modern Hebrew, it came to refer solely to a man's foreskin, linguistic analysis of the Hebrew Bible shows that it is by no means exclusive. Hence, oral tradition (dating back to before the actual Torah, as circumcision was practised by the Israelites even in Abraham's times) essentially demystifies obscure passages in the Written Torah.A comment I must make is that the books of the Bible, except for the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) were canonised into the Masoretic Tanakh by rabbis a long time after they were written (to be exact, closely after the destruction of the Second Temple, circa 70 AD). Many theological Jewish books, perceived as holy by different sects of Second Temple Judaism, were excluded. Thus, when you're quoting Jonah, Psalms or anything else that is not the Pentateuch you're essentially conceding rabbinical authority on this matter. Otherwise, you may as well quote Sirach or the Testament of Abraham, since these were deemed false by rabbis, and may certainly be the truth while Ezekiel and Psalms might be lies or forgeries. How do we know what's true and what isn't? Only the Oral Torah and rabbinical tradition can confirm that.Your example of Jonah and the Midrash about it was the main reason for the paragraph above about the canonical status of the Nevi'im and the Ketuvim. but I'll entertain it nonetheless. Rabbinical Midrashim, such as that of Lilith being Adam's first wife (which would've been a better example, I must say, because this Midrash was written about the Torah and not the Nevi'im), are not meant to be taken as the actual, Heavenly truth. They were intended to be folklore of sorts, fables that deliver a message related to morality or theology. They built on characters and stories known to every Jew in late antiquity to help people relate to them better. Now, Kabbalistic writings by Isaac Luria and others often took these as real history, but since unlike the Oral Torah they are by no means universally accepted among Rabbinical Jews around the world (such as myself), I don't think they serve as examples of oral tradition adding or detracting from the divine text.There is indeed no Biblical commandment to cover one's head at all times or even during prayer. In fact, there's no such law in the Mishnah either. It is traced back to the Babylonian Talmud, where in the opinion of some it was a symbol of respect for Heavens, among other things, and was to be worn during prayer, blessings and Torah study (as far as I know, even Karaite communities wear Kippah during prayer). In later years, some (mainly Sepharadi) communities started to wear it the whole day long for the same reason mentioned in the Talmud. It is, again, by no means universally practised and many do not wear Kippah 24/7. The main reason that most Orthodox Jews nowadays do that (I myself would like to, but I am currently in a very secular enviroment in which wearing a Kippah would raise some eyebrows - and once, with Heaven's help, I'm done studying - I will most likely start doing that) is to stand out from secular and non-Jewish people ("You shall not walk in their statutes", Leviticus 18:3).Of course, the commandment that there will be a blue string in the Tzitzit stopped being observed by Rabbinical Jews in about the 7th Century when blue ink was very expensive and the vast majority of Jews couldn't afford it. In medieval Europe, it was almost inaccessible to even royalty, not to mention Jewish peasants. Thus, there was little choice but to ditch the commandment. Since the 19th Century, the blue string is slowly finding its way back to the Tzitzit, and it is endorsed by most rabbis in Israel. Yes, it's not uncontroversial (mostly because according to the Kabbalah, the blue string will be returned in the days of the Messiah). But it is definitely a thing, and mistakes of the past can be fixed ("I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee", Isaiah 44:22).Another thing - Shabbat candles are lit before Sabbath day, on Firday afternoon before sunset. Where I live, the time today will be 18:33."And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and enquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment: And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the Lord shall choose shall shew thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee", Deuteronomy 17:9-10.Here we see that the priests and judges (in Biblical times, the Levites; during the Second Temple peiod, the Sanhedrin; today, the rabbis) have the authority to direct the people according to the needs of their time and place. Hanukka is commemorated as simply as lighting candles in memory of miracles that happened to the people of Judah. Fasting on the 9th of Av (as well as other dates) to commemorate the destruction of the temple is not a command given by G-d. Should you not fast on the day of such a tragedy? Important dates in Judaism are not limited to those mentioned in the Written Torah. Simply forgetting they happened doesn't make any sense. In fact, the Bible itself describes how Mordecai sets the 14th and 15th of Adar as feast days ("And Mordecai wrote these things, and sent letters unto all the Jews that were in all the provinces of the king Ahasuerus, both nigh and far: To stablish this among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar, and the fifteenth day of the same, yearly", Esther 9:20-21) even though they have no mention in the Torah.The word of G-d in the Written Torah is infallible and timeless; but to deliberately avoid all the miracles (and tragedies) of Judaism's history is an affront to G-d himself.