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Dec. 21st, 2005 08:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ymarkovhttp://www.jewishpress.com/news_article.asp?article=5824
When I asked my sixth grade students to define the word “Torah” for
me, the best they could manage was a description of its contents. One
would assume that at some point during years of Jewish education
(preferably at the very beginning) this most basic information would
be transmitted to children, but apparently this is another essential
that is just taken for granted – and thereby overlooked. I make a
point of it because it is not merely the correct definition of a word
that is at stake, but, as we shall see, one`s very orientation toward
Torah study and Torah observance.
The Torah is not a “Jewish law book,” [...] Some people define Torah
as “a history of the Jewish people,” but that too is incorrect. [...]
The correct definition of Torah, of course, is “instruction.”
(Similarly, a moreh or morah is an instructor.) The Torah is not a law
book, nor a history book, nor a storybook, for the Torah transcends
all these things. The Torah is a book of instruction, a user`s manual
for life in this world, a blueprint for human existence and,
particularly, Jewish human existence. While this book of instruction
will by necessity contain the basis of God`s law and certain landmark
national events, these are components of Torah, not the essence of it.
[...]
With this “new” understanding of what Torah is really meant to be, it
is easy to see that much of our community`s orientation toward Torah
study has gone awry, with far-reaching and devastating consequences.
For one thing, the mitzvah of learning Torah tends to be thought of as
somewhat of a chok, a ritual without any clearpurpose.
If we study Torah simply because it is a mitzvah that God commanded us
to do, then it makes little difference how we go about studying it. It
makes little difference whether we understand what we learn, whether
we draw meaningful and practical conclusions, whether our Torah study
impacts our character and our conduct in any discernable way.
We all know people who are well versed in Torah, yet do the Torah no
honor in how they live their lives and how they treat others. Now we
know a significant reason why. Their Torah study may be a Jewish
ritual, albeit a frequent one, but not an inculcation of God`s
instruction manual.
Large segments of Orthodox society place a premium on learning Torah
“full-time,” to the extent that working to earn a living,
familiarizing and involving oneself with worldly concerns, and even
taking time to maintain a physically healthy lifestyle are frowned
upon.
Even those segments of Orthodoxy that engage in these “mundane”
activities at the expense of Torah study tend to idealize a lifestyle
that is more appropriate for angels than human beings.
[...]
This “new” understanding of learning Torah has tremendous
ramifications for the curriculum of one`s study. The curriculum for
men in most yeshivas is devoted almost entirely to picayune,
hair-splitting analyses of esoteric matters. Ostensibly, this is meant
to teach people “how to learn.” Yet “learning how to learn” continues
indefinitely, and actual learning never seems to begin. It is a tragic
irony that many yeshiva bochurim can recite twelve different ways of
interpreting an obscure commentary, yet are ignorant of halacha that
pertains to daily life.
In the introduction to Mesillas Yesharim, R` Moshe Chaim Luzzato
expresses astonishment that people “devote their mental energy to
studies that are not obligatory, to pilpulim that bear no fruit, to
irrelevant laws, yet relinquish their great obligations to our Creator
[the study of mussar and practical matters] to rote.”
In the introduction to the Chayei Adam, R` Avraham Danzig has a
lengthy criticism of the common practice to spend countless hours
laboring on in-depth analyses without ever acquiring a broad knowledge
base of practical matters.
[...]
Torah study is meant to instruct us and engage us in this world.
Confusion, ignorance, inertia, politics, and the travails of Jewish
history have caused us to stray in the way we perform this most vital
mitzvah. Let us study Torah only so that we may live Torah, and surely
we will see blessing in all that we do.
Chananya Weissman is the founder of EndTheMadness
(www.endthemadness.org). His collection of original divrei Torah,
“Sefer Keser Chananya,” can be obtained by contacting him at
a...@endthemadness.org.
When I asked my sixth grade students to define the word “Torah” for
me, the best they could manage was a description of its contents. One
would assume that at some point during years of Jewish education
(preferably at the very beginning) this most basic information would
be transmitted to children, but apparently this is another essential
that is just taken for granted – and thereby overlooked. I make a
point of it because it is not merely the correct definition of a word
that is at stake, but, as we shall see, one`s very orientation toward
Torah study and Torah observance.
The Torah is not a “Jewish law book,” [...] Some people define Torah
as “a history of the Jewish people,” but that too is incorrect. [...]
The correct definition of Torah, of course, is “instruction.”
(Similarly, a moreh or morah is an instructor.) The Torah is not a law
book, nor a history book, nor a storybook, for the Torah transcends
all these things. The Torah is a book of instruction, a user`s manual
for life in this world, a blueprint for human existence and,
particularly, Jewish human existence. While this book of instruction
will by necessity contain the basis of God`s law and certain landmark
national events, these are components of Torah, not the essence of it.
[...]
With this “new” understanding of what Torah is really meant to be, it
is easy to see that much of our community`s orientation toward Torah
study has gone awry, with far-reaching and devastating consequences.
For one thing, the mitzvah of learning Torah tends to be thought of as
somewhat of a chok, a ritual without any clearpurpose.
If we study Torah simply because it is a mitzvah that God commanded us
to do, then it makes little difference how we go about studying it. It
makes little difference whether we understand what we learn, whether
we draw meaningful and practical conclusions, whether our Torah study
impacts our character and our conduct in any discernable way.
We all know people who are well versed in Torah, yet do the Torah no
honor in how they live their lives and how they treat others. Now we
know a significant reason why. Their Torah study may be a Jewish
ritual, albeit a frequent one, but not an inculcation of God`s
instruction manual.
Large segments of Orthodox society place a premium on learning Torah
“full-time,” to the extent that working to earn a living,
familiarizing and involving oneself with worldly concerns, and even
taking time to maintain a physically healthy lifestyle are frowned
upon.
Even those segments of Orthodoxy that engage in these “mundane”
activities at the expense of Torah study tend to idealize a lifestyle
that is more appropriate for angels than human beings.
[...]
This “new” understanding of learning Torah has tremendous
ramifications for the curriculum of one`s study. The curriculum for
men in most yeshivas is devoted almost entirely to picayune,
hair-splitting analyses of esoteric matters. Ostensibly, this is meant
to teach people “how to learn.” Yet “learning how to learn” continues
indefinitely, and actual learning never seems to begin. It is a tragic
irony that many yeshiva bochurim can recite twelve different ways of
interpreting an obscure commentary, yet are ignorant of halacha that
pertains to daily life.
In the introduction to Mesillas Yesharim, R` Moshe Chaim Luzzato
expresses astonishment that people “devote their mental energy to
studies that are not obligatory, to pilpulim that bear no fruit, to
irrelevant laws, yet relinquish their great obligations to our Creator
[the study of mussar and practical matters] to rote.”
In the introduction to the Chayei Adam, R` Avraham Danzig has a
lengthy criticism of the common practice to spend countless hours
laboring on in-depth analyses without ever acquiring a broad knowledge
base of practical matters.
[...]
Torah study is meant to instruct us and engage us in this world.
Confusion, ignorance, inertia, politics, and the travails of Jewish
history have caused us to stray in the way we perform this most vital
mitzvah. Let us study Torah only so that we may live Torah, and surely
we will see blessing in all that we do.
Chananya Weissman is the founder of EndTheMadness
(www.endthemadness.org). His collection of original divrei Torah,
“Sefer Keser Chananya,” can be obtained by contacting him at
a...@endthemadness.org.
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no subject
Date: 2005-12-22 09:28 am (UTC)