Still not sold? While the Jewish people are long out of the desert by this point in their history, the warning still resonates. The Western culture in which we live has great merit, but there are also larger, corrosive elements.
In this sense, Torah is counter-cultural. But what if you have already studied Torah in Hebrew school or Jewish day school? Is there still any value in returning to it? Study must be maintained as a habit. Learning Torah is a spiraling experience, where one returns over and over, often to the same text.
After all, even if you choose to reject Torah as an important part of your Jewishness, it makes sense to know what it is you are rejecting, if only in outline. At its simplest, Torah is the text of the first five books of the Jewish Bible.
But Torah for Jews always meant something more than that. Together with the plain text comes a wealth of commentary , tradition, extensions and challenges which are known as the Oral Torah and can be found in the great rabbinic texts — the Talmud , the Midrash and the still unfolding library of commentary and quest from a vast variety of viewpoints.
Now, study. Many sincere Christians who read the Bible regularly simply sit and contemplate the text. Frequently, such Bible study involves clarification and the addition of information from the historical record that outline the customs of the time or set the narrative in context. In terms of the Jewish Bible, they will pick out those bits that seem most telling for them — a rich story or an important teaching.
Go into any synagogue of any stripe and look at the Bibles that are used to follow the Torah reading during the service. Pretty well invariably, it will have the Hebrew text, translated into the vernacular as literally as possible, accompanied by a whole host of commentary. Jews do not read the text bald. The act of reading involves the act of study. Every text of Torah is an invitation to wonder and argument. Torah is never simply obvious. This is what is meant by study. This need to devote ourselves to knowing the Torah, to work at it, to strive to comprehend it, to give it first priority - is repeated over and over again throughout the Bible Without fail, every Jewish community in history that did not teach and study Torah as its first priority gradually disappeared from the scene.
It is the first blessing a newborn child receives: "May he grow up to Torah, to the wedding canopy, and to good deeds. No wonder Rebbe Akiva in the Talmud states that to expect a Jew to live without Torah is like expecting a fish to live without water.
That's because the fact is that the Torah is the essence of the Jewish people, our very life and soul, and without it we literally have no existence. We are studying the way in which God wants us to live on this earth We are in fact engaged in discovering the essence of Judaism, which is to say, the essence of ourselves.
In my experience, and that of millions of Jews throughout the ages, Torah study is the single most satisfying endeavor that a Jew can undertake. Torah reveals to us "the mind of God," and contains the deepest secrets of the universe. So I join your cousin in urging you: Join a Torah study class and get yourself some of this awesome pleasure. If you tell me what city you're located in, I'll be happy to recommend someone that you could contact. Please help me understand why Jews continue to identify themselves publicly.
With all the violence towards Jews for thousands of years shouldn't we Can you explain to me something about the difference between Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jewry? This concerns me because boredom is the most fertile ground for new insight. While the boredom of not knowing what to do and the boredom of a Torah genealogy may not be the same, the principle still applies; allowing for boredom means allowing for creative growth. Sometimes, Torah is dangerous. Some people would have us skip it or rip it out, but I do not look to Torah for unequivocal righteousness.
Instead, in Torah I find a harsh but honest reflection of our world. While the content of Torah is not our moral compass, studying Torah forces us to confront the ills of our world and demands that after we close our books, we work to heal all life on Earth.
Finally, studying Torah is ideally done in small groups of called chevruta. When we study with others, we learn how to work on a team towards a common goal of understanding the text.
We practice disagreeing respectfully and try out new techniques of proposing and defending our ideas. Studying in chevruta puts you in the driver seat of your own learning, with co-pilots to help you on your way. And yes, the Torah has some good lessons.
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