D'var Torah

Hamvaser – June/Sivan 5766

On Opening a Present

We always read the beginning of the book of Numbers before Shavuot, zman matan Torateynu, the season of the giving of our Torah. All too easily, however, we are lulled into the sense that all that is contained within that reading is a bunch of numbers. Not true. Tucked away in the reading is a phrase of no small significance to the religious life of the Jewish people: “The Levites, however, shall camp around the Tabernacle of the Pact, … the Levites shall stand guard around the Tabernacle of the Pact” [1:53].

To preserve the integrity and the sanctity of the mishkan, there was a security cordon composed of Levites to assure that there would be no encroachment and defilement of the sacred space. This separation and division would continue to exist throughout the Temple period. Access to the sacred precincts were protected and proscribed: an early rabbinic text teaches that there were 24 guard points restricting access to the Second Temple.

With the destruction of the Temple, Judaism underwent a major transformation – no longer was there a cultic center, neither were there sacrifices or most of the ritual practices required by Jewish law, custom and tradition. By chance, coincidence, or design, the synagogue asserted itself, with the Jewish home, as center of Jewish life and practice. Central to synagogue worship was the reading of Torah.

In earlier times, the Torah scrolls were stored in an aron, a kind of rolling cupboard that would be moved from a side-chamber to the Jerusalem-directed wall of the synagogue. The aron was opened and the Sefer Torah taken around the synagogue and then placed upon a table from which it was read. Unlike the mishkan, the portable wilderness sanctuary, that had to be protected from potential ritual defilement, our Sages maintained that nothing could render the Torah ritually unfit for use; nothing could encroach upon its use and the reading from the Torah was not confined to a priestly caste.

Unlike an earlier time, when the tables of the covenant and the words of Torah were stored in an ark far removed from human sight and human contact, by the rabbinic period, some 2000 years ago, all had direct access to Torah. The symbolism could not be clearer and it was made even more explicit in the rabbinic midrashim that developed at around the same time period. Even though the Torah maintains that God gave Torah to Moses, who then transmitted it to the people, basing himself on the commandment “I am the Lord your [very own] God,” Rabbi Jose bar R. Hanina said “The Divine Word spoke to each and every person according to his own particular capacity [Peskita de-Rav Kahana 12:25]. God appeared to each Israelite as a teacher teaching Torah, and, as with all students, each student heard and learned according to his or her own particular learning style.

In their own very unique way our Sages impressed upon us the reality that Torah belongs to us all and that we all need to approach it, interact with it, eat of its fruit, digest its contents, and find new ways of preparing its transmission to subsequent generations of Jews. While it would take the Protestant Reformation to open the pages of the Bible to Christians, for some two thousand years before and five hundred years since, Torah belongs to all Jews. It is not cordoned off, protected and isolated. The expectation and the requirement is that all Jews will take the words of Torah seriously: study them, reflect upon them, internalize and act upon the Torah’s wisdom and God’s commands.

The mishkan the portable sanctuary carried by the Levites in the desert; the Torah is equally portable, carried by all Jews wherever we have lived. Each generation carries the responsibility for ensuring the portability of Torah, for guaranteeing its teaching and transmission. God speaks to every generation in a different way and in a different guise; each and every day we all stand in the wilderness at Sinai waiting to receive the gift of Torah. It is not by accident that the Torah is unwrapped and displayed to the congregation – jointly we share in the gift. Unopened presents cannot be used, relished and enjoyed. The packaging may be attractive, even seductive to the curious but as long as the package remains sealed its purpose remains unfulfilled. During this month during which we reflect on matan torateynu, the gift of our Torah, resolve to open the package, take off the wrappings, leaf through its teachings, to rejoice in its wisdom and to relish its message, and then, share its teachings with others. Open your present, access the past and anticipate the future.

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