Torah learning is not a destination, but rather a life-long journey.
Parasht Emor 5770
Learning new things doesn’t often come easy, especially for me. I often need to study something two or three times or more before I even begin to learn it. As much as I love learning and have devoted my life to it, it frustrates me when I can’t retain things I’ve learned.
But, as I read this week’s Torah portion, I took some comfort. Parashat Emor details further instructions to the Cohanim (the Priests) about the Temple service. It then goes on to detail the sacrifices that were to be made at each of the festivals. And as I read about each holiday, I realized that I’m not the only one who needs a lot of repetition to learn things. I happen to know that this is not the only instance in which the Festivals are discussed. In Chapter 34 of the Book of Exodus, we already read a detailed list of the holidays. Over the summer, we’ll encounter the same list in Numbers 28-29. And, the list is repeated again in Deuteronomy 16. Each of these iterations focuses on a different aspect of the festivals. The Torah could have grouped all of these together and saved a lot of time. But I think the Torah recognizes that we don’t learn very well that way. We need repetition. We need to learn overlapping information from different angles and perspectives to understand it. I take comfort in knowing that my ancestors didn’t learn things thoroughly the first time through either.
I work with a lot of people who are studying to become Jewish. My conversion students often ask me, “how will I know when I’m ready? How will I know if I’ve learned enough?” It always makes me laugh (which, I’m sure they appreciate) and I explain to them that when it comes to Jewish learning, there is never an arrival point. There will never come a time when our learning will be over. It is a misnomer to say that Jews are the “People of the Book.” The fact is that we are the People of the Books – books upon books and libraries upon libraries.
I remember when I began building my rabbinic library. When I started at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, our teachers sent us off to purchase books. I went to one of the bigger Orthodox-owned book stores in LA with my list and started looking for books. The store was stacked from floor to ceiling with books bound in faux-leather with Hebrew words engraved in gold on their spines. I stood there with my list feeling totally lost. For as much as I already thought I knew about Judaism, I realized that I had barely scratched the surface. I didn’t even know what I was looking at. In my first year, I didn’t even know how to find the books I was supposed to read. Then, in my second year, I knew what some of the books were, but I had no clue what was in them. In my third year, I started getting a grasp of what was in the books and started to understand how the books related to one another. In my fourth year, I started knowing what to look for in the book store. And, by my fifth year, I ran out of money and could no longer buy any books. There is no end when it comes to Jewish books. The Torah is but the starting point, like the spout of a gushing fountain.
At the very center of our religious culture and philosophy is a belief in the pursuit of greater wisdom and knowledge. We believe that God is ultimately unknowable; that understanding is a moving target. The more you learn, the more you appreciate how little you know. Every book you read leads you to greater understanding, but it also leads you to more books. In Judaism we believe that there is no arriving. There is no graduation. The journey is its own reward. In the Talmud, the word for a scholar (a synonym for rabbi) is “talmid hacham” – “a wise student.” Every one of us, regardless of how much we know is always a student.
Today we take some time to show gratitude for our Synagogue’s many teachers and celebrate the accomplishments of our students. And I want to take this opportunity to remind us all that we are all at times teachers and we are all always students. Jewish learning is not like other kinds of learning. Jewish learning is not about possessing information or conquering a subject. Torah – in its broadest sense of the ever-expanding library – is the collective wisdom of our civilization passed down through literature, rituals, customs, and symbols. When you engage in Torah study, you enter into one of the longest running conversations in Human history. Jewish learning is an ongoing and never-ending conversation across the generations. Every time you open a Jewish book, you have the opportunity to insert yourself into that conversation. Through our learning we come together to find ways of coming closer to God, ways of improving the world, ways of understanding how to live a life that matters.
In our era of computers and an exponentially growing capacity to store data, it is easy to forget that there is a difference between information and knowledge; between records and wisdom. Information can be stored – knowledge needs to be acquired and reinforced. Records can be filed away for posterity – but wisdom can be lost if it isn’t practiced and renewed. Midrash Kohelet Rabbah says, “It is for our own good that we learn Torah and forget it!; because if we studied Torah and never forgot it, people would make an effort to learning it for two or three years, then resume their ordinary work, and never pay further attention to it. But, since we study Torah and forget it, we don’t abandon its study.”[1]
To our younger students I say, “the best is yet to come.” Your teachers – who we honored today – are giving you the basic tools that will allow you to join the great conversation. This is only the start. Once you enter that conversation you are never finished learning. You may forget some of what you learn; but you’ll come back to it. Just as every repetition in the Torah of the Jewish Festivals shares something different about the Holidays, every time you engage in Torah study you learn more. You will discover new angles on the same verses. You will learn new information and new commentaries. You will make new connections and build on your knowledge. And, you will come at it a slightly different person every time. Over your life you’ll learn and grow and gain experience; therefore every time you open the same book, it will be with new eyes. Therefore, I leave you with a blessing from Pirkei Avot (5:22): “hafoch ba, v’hafoch ba d’chulei ba” – “Turn [the Torah] over and over for everything is in it. Delve ever deeper into it, grow old and gray over it, and never move away from it, for you will find no better portion than that.”
Shabbat Shalom
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