Hazak
hazak v’nit’hazayk
Be strong; be strong, and let us be strengthened.
As we finish
each of the five Books of the Torah, we stand, and recite together the words, Hazak
hazak, v’nit’hazayk; be strong, be strong, and let
us a strengthened. It is a cheer, a shout of approval for our accomplishment,
but also so much more. It is a call to not leave off at this end, but to start
over.
Our tradition
teaches that Ezra the scribe, approximately 500 BCE, instituted the practice of
reading the Torah publicly on Mondays and Thursdays. These were the market days
of the time, when Jews would be in town to hear the reading. Additionally he
added Shabbat afternoons to give a start to the new week. Ezra also set these
as the days when the beit din would meet, with the words of Torah fresh in
their minds. Each week we read a piece until the entire Torah is read aloud.
Then, in a never-ending cycle, we begin again. As modern Jews, the reading of
the Torah seems almost mundane. However, if we think about other world
religions the uniqueness of Jewish practice becomes clear. The Torah is the
inheritance of each and every Jew. We are all expected to read and study its
words. We are all expected to hear its meanings and lessons. To this end,
rather than to solidify their own power, our early leaders, from Moshe to Ezra,
decreed that Torah would be read aloud at opportunities for the community to
hear. Until some time in the Middle Ages, the reading of the entire Torah took
three to three-and-a-half years to ensure time for study and sermons (JPS
Commentary on Deuteronomy). In this manner Torah becomes a familiar thing to
Jews.
No other
religion reads its text aloud in its entirety. No other religion expects all its adherents to know, not only the words, but the meaning of the
text, as Judaism does. Through this we are strengthened as individuals and as a
people.
Soon we will
celebrate the end of one cycle and the start of the next. In Israel, Shemini
Atzeret and Simchat Torah are one day, linking the cycle of the year, with the
recitation of Geshem, as we add the prayer for rain, the cycle of life, with
Yizkor, and the cycle of Torah, with Simchat Torah. Here we will stretch this
to two days, but the themes will be the same. We end our year standing on the
shores of the Jordan, looking over and praying for our land, but, in that same
moment, we begin anew, celebrating the joy of Torah in our lives an the
blessing of this never-ending cycle that identifies us as Jews, unique in the
world.
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