Devarim
CARLSBAD, California — This week we begin the fifth and final book of the Torah, the Book of Devarim. This book is unique in its style and content. The previous books of the Torah, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, were all written by Moses serving as G-d’s recording secretary, so to speak. This book, on the other hand, while being from G-d has more of the human element within it. Moses gave us the human perspective of the Divine Law.
As we all know, it is tremendously important for us to study Torah as the unfiltered word of G-d. If there is something that we do not understand within the Torah, it is our intellect that is lacking, not the Giver of the Torah’s. At the same time, however, it is essential that we use our heads in studying and analyzing the Torah. G-d does not want us to be robotic in our service of Him. Instead He wants us to serve Him with our entire being, which of course includes our intellect. This transitionary book written with the human perspective demonstrates to us how this approach is meant to look.
How do we, realistically, find a balance between approaching Torah study as foot soldiers who simply do what they are told, and intellectual beings who must view Torah ideals through the lens of human experience and understanding?
We can accomplish this through the meticulous work of nurturing our faith in the Torah’s divinity and its divine Source, and then studying and following the Torah with this fact in mind. The fact is the more one fulfills the Torah’s mandates and studies the Torah, the more of the Divine Wisdom one will come to appreciate.
We must not view the Torah as another interesting subject that deserves some of our attention when we can get around to it. It should not even be approached as something we study once or twice a week – even if that study is undistracted and intense.
No. The Torah is our life! We must create set times for Torah study every single day. In fact, we should approach Torah study with intense thirst, so that we have to pull ourselves away from it in order to go make a living. But even as we close the book, we take and live by its eternal message so that our day is full of Torah. Then at night, when the work of the day is over, it is time to again open up the book and fill our souls with its nurturing energy.
Wishing everyone an uplifting, joyous, and HEALTHY Shabbos!
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Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort is Director of Coastal Chabads and Chabad at La Costa. Rabbi Eilfort welcomes readers’ comments and questions and may be reached at RabbiE@ChabadatLaCosta.com.