Ki hamitzvah hazot
asher Anokhi m’tzav’kha hayom lo-nifleit hi mimkha v’lo-r’chokah hi. Lo
bashamayim hi leimor mi ya’aleh-lanu hashamaima v’yikacheha lanu v’yashmi’einu
otah v’na’asena. V’lo-mei’eiver layam hi leimor mi ya’avar-lanu el-eiver hayam
v’yikacheha lanu v’yashmi’einu otah v’na’asena. Ki-karov eilekha hadavar m’od
b’pikha uvilvavkha la’asoto.
For
this commandment that I have commanded this day is not too wondrous for you,
nor is it far from you. It is not in heaven that one would say, “Who will go up
for us to heaven and bring it to us?” And it is not beyond the sea that one
would say, “Who will cross the sea for us, and bring it to us and make us hear
it so we will do it?” Rather, this thing is very close to you, in your mouth
and in your heart, that you will do it. (D’varim
30:11-14)
The Torah is a wondrous thing,
Judaism a unique religion. God has given us the mitzvot, and placed them
completely in our hands. It is a unique thing in the ancient world. Most
religions viewed their gods as beyond human understanding, their laws
convoluted and changeable according to the whims of the god. The Torah is
different. It is not a book of rules transmitted to us through a hierarchy. We
need no intercessor to speak to God for us. Rather, it is assumed that every
Jew, given knowledge and ability, will want to perform the mitzvot in order to
bring holiness into our lives and bring us closer to God. In order to do this
God and the mitzvot must be accessible to each of us.
Biblical and halakhic study is
the purview of every Jew. We seek guidance from rabbis and scholars to set us
on the path and to provide deeper insight into the many faces of the Torah, but
it is a text available to all. The openness of our text, and our devotion to it
as a people, has led us to be known in the world as the People of the Book.
Books make knowledge accessible to all rather than a select few. Our Torah is
not in heaven only to be studied and interpreted by scholars and rabbis. It is
not kept far from us only to be available to the wealthy who can make the
journey. Rather, Torah text belongs to us. We learn it with our first breaths.
Even Jews who do not realize, are connected to our text and mitzvot. The Passover
seder is one of the most widely observed rituals, even among the non-observant.
The Jewish connection to education and learning is born out of this, an almost
genetic, connection. It is a thing is very close to us, in our mouths and in
hearts.
It is appropriate that we read
this as we also ready to begin our reading of the Torah again. Our weekly
services do not merely include a verse or three chosen for purpose. Through the
year we read the entire Torah ensuring its availability to all. It is said
there are shivim panim laTorah, seventy
faces to the Torah. Each year as we reread our text, the Torah speaks to us
differently. The text connects to us where we stand. Its meaning changes with
as we change, and, with its adapting connection to us, so too do we draw closer
to God. It is a reminder and a rejoinder for the coming year. May we all find
our place in its words.
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