Episode #21 The Mysterious Torah

 In this episode, Rabbi Reinman explores the true nature of the Torah and discusses how the Giving of the Torah transformed the world.

Chapter Twenty-one

The Mysterious Torah

The generation of the Exodus experienced the most spectacular supernatural events in history, because these events formed the Jewish people and needed to be etched into the collective memory for all time, as explained in Chapter 5. The Giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai was by far the most spectacular event ever witnessed by human beings. It was more than miraculous, more than supernatural, more than cataclysmic. It was the removal of the barrier between the spiritual Heaven and the material universe, an event so seismic that the entire world trembled.

By the Giving of the Torah God promised to “betroth you to Me forever.”^[1] Both sides pledged their vows. The Jewish people swore to remain faithful to God and obey His commandments, and God swore to bring them into the Promised Land if they remained faithful but never to spurn them to the point of extinction even if they were not.[2]

And in the ensuing three thousand years, both sides have remained true to their vows. The core element of the Jewish people has always adhered to the Torah with profound love and strict observance, and God has always protected His people, despite all the misfortune that has befallen them. No matter how many Jews fell victim to martyrdom or assimilation, a vital remnant always remained staunch and indestructible. The fountainhead of the Jewish people is inexhaustible.

If the Giving of the Torah was the marriage of God and the Jewish people, where was the ring? What did He give the Jewish people to seal the bond? Obviously, it was the Torah. But what exactly is the Torah, and how is it similar to a ring? Is it a set of instructions for better moral living? Is it a set of instructions for rituals that commemorate important events in Jewish history? Is it a narrative of the early history of the world? Is it a program for conducting a relationship with God? Is it all of the above?

Furthermore, did what happened at Mount Sinai ever happen before? God promised Isaac abundant progeny because Abraham, his father, “heeded My voice and observed My sacrament, My commandments, My laws and My teachings.”^[3] The Gemara derives from this that the Patriarchs fulfilled all the commandments, including those that commemorate future events.^[4] Clearly, the Torah is a mysterious entity that takes many forms so that Abraham eating matzah on Passover and our doing the same thing today are both expressions of a common esoteric principle. But did Abraham have the Torah in the same way the Jewish people have it after Mount Sinai?

We can ask a similar question regarding the Torah’s statement that God “instituted decrees and laws for the Jewish people”^[5] at a place called Marah to familiarize them with Torah study and observance before they arrived at Sinai. These were the laws of parah adumah, which involved the use of a red heifer for spiritual purification; the laws of the Sabbath; and an introduction to the Torah system of civil law.^[6] Did the Jewish people have these parts of the Torah at Marah without the heavens parting in the same way they received the entire Torah afterward at Sinai?

What happened at Sinai that had never happened before?

Before we address this question, let us consider a dispute among the Sages regarding the relationship between Torah and mitzvos.[7] If a person is faced with the opportunity to study Torah or to perform a mitzvah that can be delegated to others, which should he do? Rabbi Akiva considers Torah study greater than deeds. Rabbi Tarphon gives deeds precedence to Torah study even when someone else is available to do them. The scholars in the yeshivah discussed this question and all agreed that Torah study is greater because it leads to the performance of mitzvos.

How can Rabbi Tarphon give precedence to a mitzvah if Torah study is itself a mitzvah, in fact the greatest mitzvah of all? And how can the scholars say that Torah study is greater because it leads to practical observance? Wouldn’t that indicate that mitzvos are greater?

Elsewhere, the Sages state, “If someone honors the Torah, his body will be honored by other people.”[8] What does this mean? Rashi explains that this refers to a person who does not pile Torah scrolls on top of each other or lay them on benches where people sit. Just as he honored the material body of the Torah, meaning the scroll upon which the words are written, people will honor his material body measure for measure. I assume this means by saving him a seat and getting him a good portion of food.

The Rambam adds another example for honoring the Torah that results in a person’s material body being honored. He says that this also includes people who perform mitzvos zealously. How does the zealous performance of mitzvos translate to honoring the material body of the Torah?

The Asher Yatzar blessing concludes, “Umafli laasos. He performs a wonder.” Rema explains that this refers to the connection between the spiritual soul and the material body. The soul that resides in the body is not simply like a rider on a horse. It is actually attached to the body in some wondrous way. When the soul departs the body, it may depart easily, like a hair drawn out of milk, or with great difficulty, like a thorn drawn from wool, depending on the righteousness of the person.[9]

Why does a soul need to be actually attached to a body? Why couldn’t it just be like a rider on a horse?

I think it is because the soul, which is a completely spiritual entity, has no place in the material world. If it is not somehow anchored to the material world, it would be spontaneously drawn to the spiritual world. But the wondrous miracle that attaches the spiritual soul to the material body prevents it from soaring back into Heaven.

The Torah is also a completely spiritual entity. It is a tremendous spiritual force. The Gemara says that God created seven things before He created the world. One of these was the Torah. What form did the Torah take before the world was created? Did it tell the story of the Jewish people before it even happened? Not likely. The Zohar says that there are seventy faces to the Torah, but each of those faces also has seventy faces and so on ad infinitum. The Torah can assume endless forms. It is a portal into God’s mind so to speak. Torah study is essentially the entry into and the exploration of the divine mind so to speak. It is the highest form of human activity possible, and it is the exclusive domain of the Jewish people; the Gemara says that a gentile is forbidden to study Torah as Jewish people do.[10]

The Torah is such a high spiritual force that it cannot remain in the material world without spontaneously returning to Heaven unless it is tethered here. According to the Rambam, the performance of mitzvos is the anchor that holds the Torah force in this world. It is the material body to which the spiritual Torah is attached. Therefore, says the Rambam, whoever performs mitzvos zealously honors the body of the Torah, and measure for measure, his body will be honored by other people.

Rabbi Tarphon gave precedence to practical observance over Torah study, even though Torah study is the greatest mitzvah, because every mitzvah connects the Torah to the material world and reinforces our possession of it. Torah is indeed the greatest mitzvah, but it is completely intellectual and spiritual. It does not serve to connect the Torah to the material world. Therefore, it is better for a person to take the opportunity to do a mitzvah and strengthen his grasp on the Torah.

Rabbi Akiva, however, contends that Torah study should nonetheless take precedence. There will be other mitzvos to reinforce the connection. And the scholars in the yeshivah all agreed that Torah study should take precedence, because it elevates a person’s overall mitzvah performance.

This was the ring with which God betrothed the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. He gave them the transcendent spiritual force called the Torah. He allowed them to enter and explore His mind so to speak. This is the meaning of the famous saying of the Zohar that “Israel, the Torah and the Holy Blessed One are all one.”[11] It was the Giving of the Torah at Sinai that accomplished this union by allowing the Jewish people into the divine mind.

This had never happened before. The Patriarchs and the Jewish people at Marah performed the mitzvos of the Torah, but the spiritual force called the Torah remained in Heaven. According to the Gemara, the time before the Giving of the Torah at Sinai was called the Millennia of Chaos, while Sinai ushered in the Millenia of Torah.[12]

The insertion of the Torah into the world was transformational. It gave the Jewish people a closeness with God and a spiritual power that had never existed before in the material world. It also gave them the ability to illuminate the world, to be a light to the nations, but first they have to use it to transform themselves. That is the struggle of history.

[1] Hosea 2:21.

[2] Vayikra 27:44.

[3] Bereishis 26:5.

[4] Yoma 28b.

[5] Bereishis 15:25.

[6] Sanhedrin 56b.

[7] Kiddushin 40b.

[8] Avos 4:6.

[9] Berachos 8a.

[10] Sanhedrin 59a.

[11] Zohar 3, 73a

[12] Avodah Zarah 11a.