"Where's Torah?" she asked. Big brown eyes gazing up from beneath perfect bangs.
"You mean 'What's Torah.' Well, my sweet, Torah is the written law of our Jewish people which…"
"No. Where's Torah?" She was persistent.
"You mean 'Where's God." Well, my dear, that's a very complicated question that…"
"No. I mean, Where's Torah?"
"I don't know…"
"Of course you do, you know everything."
"Well, I suppose it's many places."
"Everywhere? Or just some places."
"Everywhere. Yes, everywhere. But also nowhere, I think."
"Now you're being confusing!"
"Torah's not just what's written in those scrolls at shul. It IS wherever we bring it. But I think we have to bring it, it won't come on its own."
"Like how you have to bring me to the dentist's office 'cause I won't go by myself."
"Yes…like that."
"See, I told you that you knew."
"Whoever engages in Torah study for its own sake merits many things; furthermore, the creation of the entire world is worthwhile to him." That's the beginning of the sixth chapter of Pirkei Avot (Ethics of our fathers). Sounds great, huh? But what does that mean, "for it's own sake?" Is Torah some kind of living being that demands things of me? I thought God was the only "divine being" with which I had to contend. For its own sake, "l'shma," has been interpreted in a wide array of ways: learning for the sake of knowing (versus for feeling cool), connecting to the creator, learning because Torah is truth… just to name a few. This week, we delved into the depths of Rav Kook's take on learning Torah "l'shma."
Torah is God's wisdom, brought down to us in the palatable form of letters on a page. But the reality of that wisdom, says Rav Kook, is that it needs to be actualized. Not that the raw form has any lack, but rather it needs to be expanded. To learn Torah is to expand Torah. One of two things can happen when we learn. We can feel that "Oh, now that I'm 'learned,' there's more of ME and less of YOU in the world. Thus I have expanded MY Torah." But that's not the point. The point is to find the vantage point from which to reveal that which only I can reveal. My job is to reveal. And there are certain aspects of the world, of Torah, which only I can do. WOW! Talk about a sense of purpose!
This week's parsha is chock full of amazing stories of our forebearers. On the one hand, these people are totally intimidating, utterly impossible to relate to. Avraham, Sarah, Yitzchak…they lived their lives with such God consciousness that it's hard for me to hold them up as real role models. But on the other hand is Rav Kook. The people we're reading about this week were not living their lives under the influence of Torah in the way that we are today. But you know what? They still had the job of expanding Torah in the way that only they could; Avraham's holy chutzpah to tell G-d a thing or two about leveling Sdom and Gomorrah, Sarah's unapologetic demand that Yitzchak, and not Yishmael, be the center of Avraham's attention. Today, we have the unprecedented ability to tap in to Torah EVERYWHERE: in shul, on the web, over e-mail, on the phone, in a book, in a movie, at dinner, or at the beach… everywhere. Some would say life is getting too hectic, too crazy to focus on learning Torah. But I say, fooey on you. G-d is in the details, and these days there are more details to our daily life than ever before.
Those details are the "many things" we merit by expanding Torah. We're shown the Godliness in all the little nooks and crannnies of life, and the world takes on new meaning… new purpose. I bless us all, in the merit of Avraham, Sarah, eema, aba, our third grade teacher, and you, to take a peek BEHIND the bookshelf this Shabbat. Let the world know what you find.