Remembering Daily the Purpose of Torah

Each morning, prior to beginning the formal prayer service, traditional Jews recite a series of blessings that prepare themselves for the day.  One of these blessings involves thanking God for the opportunity to study Torah; it reads something like this:  “Blessed are You, Lord of the Universe, Who has … commanded us to engross ourselves in the words of Torah.  Please, sweeten Your Torah in the mouth of Your people … and may we and our offspring study Your Torah for it’s own sake.  Blessed are You Who teaches Torah to Israel … and blessed are You, the Giver of the Torah.”

Then, immediately following this blessing, the Rabbis of old instructed us to actually learn a little Torah, thus transforming the philosophical into the practical, and showing God we truly appreciate the gift of the Torah.  After all, what better way to express genuine gratitude for a gift than to excitedly use it almost immediately after receiving it.

Specifically, three distinct texts were offered to fulfill this purpose, one from each of the primary sources of our tradition — the Torah, the Mishnah and the Talmud.  Understanding why the texts from the latter two sources were instituted is quite easy; they both speak about the importance of Torah and its ability to inspire good action in all that we do.  The text taken from the Torah, though, presents somewhat of a mystery.  It is taken from the Book of Numbers and includes the Priestly Benediction: “May God bless you and keep you; May God shine His countenance upon you and be gracious to you; May God turn His countenance towards you and place upon you peace.” 

Why was this text chosen to immediately follow one’s recitation of the blessings over the Torah?  Unlike the texts taken from the Mishna and Talmud, this text has nothing to do with Torah.  How does studying it relate to the blessings that precede it? 

The Hasidic Rebbe, the Tipheret Shlomo, offers a simple yet beautiful answer: The text of the Priestly Benediction is all about blessing others.  The Priests, after all, were commanded by God to share these comforting words to the Jewish People as a sign of God’s love and concern for them.  We therefore read these blessings, says the Tipheret Shlomo, to remind us that the whole purpose of our Torah study must be to bring blessing into the world and show love and concern for one’s fellow.  Torah study for purely academic interest or intellectual stimulation misses the point and is a grossly inadequate form of study.  No, we do not learn Torah simply to acquire knowledge or spur hypothetical discussions.  Rather, we do so to become better people, more caring people and more helpful people.  We learn Torah so that our actions bless others and make their lives better.

Once one understands the Tipheret Shlomo’s point, the meaning behind the next two texts studied — those from the Mishna and Talmud that seemed perfectly relevant due to their mention of Torah study — is also transformed.  Yes, each of them discuss Torah study, but notice they also focus on an array of other commandments that seem less relevant, like leaving the (food found in the) corner of one’s field for the poor, practicing acts of kindness, honoring one’s mother and father, providing hospitality to guests, visiting the sick, providing for the needs of a (poor) bride, escorting the deat and bringing peace between two warring people.  Once we have learned the Tipheret Shlomo, though, these commandments appear as anything but irrelevant.  To the contrary, they are the reason why we study Torah!

Indeed, the final line of the Talmudic text brought for us to study — from the Tractate Shabbat 127A — can now be read differently than normally understood.  After listing a litany of commandments, many of which I mention above, this text concludes “and Torah study is equal to all of them.”  Usually, one interprets the phrase as meaning Torah study is more important than even all of these commandments together.  Now, however, we realize such a reading is not totally accurate.  In telling us that Torah study is ’equal’ to all of them, the text is not saying that it’s more important than all the commandments listed, but rather enables all of them — which is to say, through studying the Torah in which all these commandments are taught, one will more likely fulfill them properly.  Torah study, thus, makes these commandments possible …

But only if we understand that that is what Torah study is all about.