Torah—Foundation of Jewish Learning
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Torah study is the foundation of all Jewish life and learning.
It is not just a book, but a skill.
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In my experience, Torah study is THE hurdle that each modern Jews must transcend if they are to find real meaning and guidance for their lives in Judaism.
The struggle goes something like this:
“I read the book. There’s lots of stuff in it I don’t agree with and refuse to live my life by, such as instructions to kill all sorts of other people for all sorts of reasons. But it’s the Torah. If I’m going to be a Jew, I’m supposed to follow exactly what’s written there, right? So what do I do now?”
This truly is a serious spiritual and religious dilemma. If we are to claim Judaism, we can’t simply “throw the book out” as irrelevant or passé. If we believe that Judaism has truly foundational lessons for us then we can’t “write the book off” as simply another great work of literature. But if we are to treasure the gifts of modern intelligence that God gave us, we can’t follow the words of the Torah literally (and we know from our observance of Judaism that even the most Ultra-Orthodox Jews don’t follow the literal words of the Torah).
So what to do?
Judaism has long known that Torah is not an ancient document—it is a living document. And it is every generations job to study the text again and again, portion by portion, verse by verse, word by word, even sometimes letter by letter, and then to ask themselves one simple but very difficult question: “What is the lesson in this passage for me at this time in my life?” To do this requires us to make a leap of transcending our own egos and make the faith statement that there is truly wisdom in this document for us as Jews—and not just the wisdom of a good piece of literature or an intelligent ancestor—but wisdom that somehow has a connection to our soul.
Regular Torah study is how we accomplish this.
I teach a regular Torah Study class on Shabbat afternoons (click here for schedule) that allows anyone with even a modicum of Jewish background to explore this most foundational text.
I am also available to teach classes about Torah Study, and to facilitate private Torah Study groups or individual Torah study.
Please click here to contact me for more information.
