Parshat Bereshit
October 24th-25th, 2003
29 Tishrei, 5764

This Shabbos, we begin again the yearly cycle of the Torah reading. (Not a bad way to designate the Jewish people in general: Those who are constantly beginning again, and renewing their relationship to G-d each day and week and year, emulating the Creator Who—as we say in the morning service—"in His goodness renews daily, perpetually, the work of Creation.")

"In the beginning, G-d created the heavens and the earth…"

With that (momentous) introduction, the Torah is off and running! Before you know it, the Flood arrives, Abraham is born…and Chanukah is just around the corner.

But maybe we should pause for a moment, and take advantage of this new beginning to give some thought to the nature of this Torah that we are starting to read. It just might be beneficial to ask ourselves beforehand how we are going to approach (or, regard) the words that we are going to hear. We might get more out of the experience if we do so. (Or find ourselves more inclined to hold off discussing the Yankees and Marlins, or the ethical dimensions of the Kobe Bryant case, until after the Torah reading is over!)

Here goes. How do we look at this Torah? How do you look at the Torah?

Is it merely a source of historical knowledge about the history of our people? Is it an archaic document cataloguing the opinions and values (and prejudices) of an ancient culture? Is it a fascinating collection of stories and legends? Is it a repository of human wisdom, the best product of some sharp Jewish minds over the ages? (They didn’t have law school back in those days, or film criticism, so our best and brightest hunched over scrolls of parchment, composing mythic tales—and restrictive codes of conduct—in order to pass the time, preserve our people, invent a religion, etc.) Or is it just something (though we’re not quite sure what exactly) that we Jews are stuck with forever?

Just how are we to look at this Torah?

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, the great 19th-century defender of traditional Judaism in Germany, considers this very question at the outset of his celebrated work (still very much worth reading), The Nineteen Letters. You probably won’t be surprised when I tell you that Hirsch, great expositor of traditional Judaism, answers this question with our old favorite S.A.T response: None of the above. None of the above approaches is (obviously) the traditional way of regarding the Torah, nor (Hirsch would say) are any of the above approaches the correct way of looking at the Torah. "Correct" in the sense of being true to the actual nature, and source, of the Torah.

Let’s listen to the words of Hirsch on this subject, so we can understand a different—and I would say, much more compelling—approach to this old Torah of ours than any of the possibilities listed above. (NOTE: The Nineteen Letters is cast in the form of an exchange of letters between two old friends—one, a young rabbi, and the other, a religiously disenchanted Jewish intellectual devoted to the ideals of the Enlightenment. The young rabbi is Hirsch’s mouthpiece to articulate his eloquent defense of tradition.)

"Before we open it [the Torah], however, let us consider how to read it…As Jews we will read this book, as a book tendered to us by G-d in order that we learn from it about ourselves, what we are and what we should be during our earthly existence. We will read it as Torah—literally, ‘instruction,’—directing and guiding us within G-d’s world and among humanity, making our inner self come alive." (Feldheim edition, 1995, p. 15)

He challenges us to read, or listen to, the words of Torah as G-d given instruction about who we are, and what we should be doing (i.e., seeking to accomplish) in our earthly existence. To see the Torah not as somehow alien to our own essential identity, but as the very means to make our inner self come alive. It guides us in negotiating the challenges of this beautiful, but sometimes bewildering world (G-d’s world), and instructs us on how to view, and to treat, our fellow human beings (humanity).

Let’s amplify the picture a bit with a few more of the words of Rabbi Hirsch on this subject, this time from Horeb, his systematic overview of the mitzvot (commandments of the Torah) that expands on the principles laid down in Nineteen Letters:

"Do you wish to be a blessing? [G-d instructs Avraham in Genesis, 12: "be a blessing."] Then first prepare yourself for this noble task. Behold, here is the Torah that G-d gave you: from it alone you can draw the law of life, it alone can tell you what G-d and the world are to you, what G-d and the world require of you; from it and it alone can you find light and derive light for your spirit, warmth for your heart, strength for your work, the path of justice and love for your life. Study it, let its words be engraved on your heart, let them be the object of your thoughts night and day, with it equip yourself for life….

You have been born to be an Israelite. ‘Be an Israelite’ was the summons with which G-d called you into being…and you can fulfill this task only if your spirit is enlightened by the spirit of the law, if your heart is hallowed by its words, if your path in life and your duties are known to you through its teaching…

With attentive mind and with receptive heart you must study in order to practice. You must aim at learning from the law a way of life, which is its true teaching; only then can you learn it properly, only then will it disclose to you its inmost meaning." [Horeb; Soncino Press, pp. 369-370]

He urges us to read, or listen to, the words of the Torah as the indispensable means for preparing ourselves for the noble Jewish task (and mission) of being a blessing to the world (a "light to the nations"). To gain from the words of Torah light for our spirit, and strength for our work of cleaving to the path of love and justice in life. To learn from the Torah, and its laws, a way of life, and to study in order to practice.

Of course, Hirsch assumes (as does our tradition) that G-d is real, and that the Torah was (really) revealed to Moshe at Sinai, where the whole Jewish people en masse heard the Divine "voice" speak the 10 Commandments. Whether our ancestors heard all 10 directly, or only the first two, is a discussion among the commentaries…but that our ancestors all attained a level of prophecy at Sinai, and heard G-d speak, intelligibly, is a foundation of (classical) Judaism. (And our mystical tradition affirms that the souls of all future generations of the Jewish people were present there as well. "I thought I knew that guy in shul from somewhere!")

These assumptions require much discussion, investigation and patient consideration for those not so familiar with them, I admit. (For some Jewish people out there, no doubt, they themselves constitute quite a "revelation!") They are foundations of our faith--the source of our amazing loyalty to this "old Torah" of ours throughout the millennia.

But now, I only have time to stress one point. Maybe we should think about approaching this Torah (and relating to its words) as Hirsch advises: the G-d-given instruction we need to awaken (and enlighten) our souls, and to help us to realize our mission as human beings…and as Jews. To see the Torah as the guide and instruction for our present (and practical) lives: you and I, right now, in the modern age, in 2003…as the Marlins stand poised to defeat the Yankees. (And when that happens, we Red Sox fans will sing unending songs and praises to the Almighty for His kindness…)

Looking at Torah this way, we can perk up this Shabbos when the ba’al koreh [reader of the Torah] reads the wondrous and profound words of this portion. The Creation of the world out of nothing by G-d—this world the Torah goes out of its way to remind us is very good! G-d’s breathing of a divine soul into the human frame. The commandment given to Adam and Eve to tend and work the Garden (and their subsequent transgression). The murder of Abel by Cain. All of these biblical accounts precisely describe the nature of human beings, and of this world in which G-d planted us. All of these accounts—with the rabbinical commentaries that are an inherent part of our tradition as well—are part of the divine instruction we need to nourish our souls and to guide our lives.

Our mission—should we decide to accept it—is to see the Torah as not something "old" at all, but as something always new: our new Torah, the Torah that we "receive" anew each day when we recite the blessing over its study, and the Shema. May Hashem help us to approach this Torah He has given us with a renewed passion to learn and to practice, to find in it our lives and our way of life. As we so beautifully say in our morning prayers: "Our Father…have mercy upon us, instill in our hearts to understand and elucidate, to listen, learn, teach, safeguard, perform and fulfill all the words of Your Torah’s teaching with love." Let us begin again our Torah reading…and observing.

GOOD SHABBOS!

My e-mail address is yosefe@comcast.net

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Rabbi Yosef Edelstein, Savannah Kollel. Phone: 912-351-0469; fax: 354-9923