ed note–and, once again, ladies and Gentile-men, there’s that word…
Torah…
Torah…
Torah…
No, not that film about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, but rather that ‘other’ Torah, which an entire gaggle of experts claim plays no part in modern day Judaism or in the belief/behavior system of today’s Jews, and yet, here we are (again) hearing it from no less than a Rabbi, how important Torah is to the Judaic experience.
One important takeaway to consider from our unesteemed Hebraic author which underscores something that appears here regularly, to wit–
‘The five-year old engages in Torah; at ten, the Mishnah; at 13, mitzvot; at 15, Talmud…’
In other words, Talmud is something that comes later after studying Torah, which would only make sense, given that it is a compendium of rabbinic commentary on how the 613 brain-busting rules of the Torah as handed down by Moses are to be implemented and followed.
Now, undoubtedly, some ask the question WHY we spend so much time repeating this lesson, when once should be enough…
Well, if once WERE enough, we certainly would end it there, but it obviously isn’t. Not a day goes by where we aren’t being ‘schooled’ to some degree by someone who has read a book or a pamphlet put out by one of those aforementioned ‘experts’ whose claim to fame and whose bread and butter are earned by proselytizing on the ‘Khazar/Talmud’ thing in getting down to the brass tacks of the ‘JQ’. Worse yet are those with an emotional attachment to the Torah, Christians of various stripe and specie who believe that a person simply CAN’T believe in JC without believing in the religion of His enemies as well, the worst of those being of the Christian Identity pedigree who believe that they–by virtue of their white DNA–are the literal descendants of the Hebrews and Shebrews featured in the Old Tester-ment.
Anyhoo, we offer the following as yet ‘another brick in the wall’ demonstrating yet again (till next time) that the popular assertion concerning modern day Judaism and its followers being divorced from their Torah is as factually bankrupt as saying that the word ‘syrup’ is a derivative of the word ‘Syria’ because both happen to begin with the same 3 letters.
Rabbi Ethan Tucker for My Jewish Learning dot com
Jewish tradition makes the argument for Torah study in a variety of thought-provoking ways.
One is contained in a Mishnah in Avot:
Yehudah b. Teima used to say: “A five-year old engages with Torah; at ten, Mishnah; at 13, mitzvot; at 15, Talmud; at 18, marriage; at 20, one chases [a livelihood]; at 30, one attains power; at 40, understanding; at 50, counsel; at 60, old age; at 70, gray hair; at 80, might; at 90, meditation/ one is bent over; when one is 100, it is as if one is already dead and has passed from the world.’
According to this source, it’s not a matter of if we learn Torah, but when. Jewish tradition sees studying Torah as a universal expectation, as integral to life as forming relationships or establishing a career.
Anchoring Torah study in the formative years of youth, this Mishnah clearly sees this practice as foundational to becoming a person. Torah study is not just an intellectual exercise, but a pathway to living out eternal values. Torah is a part of the transmission of culture.
The universal expectation is that Jews are to engage in Torah study as their birthright. It’s not just a book on the shelf of a research library, but an ethical and religious will that has been handed down from their ancestors. Torah is an heirloom, a constitution. It is an inheritance that the Jewish people have shared with the world.
Some of the content of the Torah may at first seem foreign, difficult, or even irrelevant to our lives today, but great rewards await those who continue to engage in it. Perhaps the minutiae of rabbinic debate about Shabbat observance won’t jump off of a page of Talmud at you, but the notion of a day of rest for an overworked world, and the care to maintain its sanctity in great detail, is an ethos that can animate and inspire any scholar.
Still not sold? The Midrash, commenting on the verse (Exodus 16:22) “And they did not find water,” teaches: “Words of Torah are similar to water… because they withdrew from words of Torah for three days, they rebelled.”
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. There’s a culture of self-indulgence, of focusing solely on yourself and what you like. In this sense, Torah is counter-cultural. The way water fights your body’s natural path towards dehydration, Torah can help transcend selfish inclinations and provide guidance toward a life of purpose and obligation.
But what if you have already studied Torah in Hebrew school or Jewish day school? Is there still any value in returning to it?
The aggadic work Avot Derabbi Natan offers this response:
R. Akiva says: “If you learned Torah in your youth, learn it as an adult. Don’t say, ‘I won’t learn Torah as an adult,’ because you never know which period of learning will make a deeper impression, perhaps both will remain with you and even complement one another, as it says, ‘In the morning, plant your seeds and don’t desist from planting in the evening’ (Ecclesiastes 11:6).”