Chevre, this week’s parsha is Nitzavim-Vayelech (נצבים-וילך). We are drawing closer to the end of the Torah and to Rosh Hashanah.
I think I’ve spoken about this before, but it touches me every time I read it:
כִּ֚י הַמִּצְוָ֣ה הַזֹּ֔את אֲשֶׁ֛ר אָנֹכִ֥י מְצַוְּךָ֖ הַיּ֑וֹם לֹא־נִפְלֵ֥את הִוא֙ מִמְּךָ֔ וְלֹ֥א רְחֹקָ֖ה הִֽוא׃
Surely, this Instruction which I enjoin upon you this day is not too baffling for you, nor is it beyond reach.
לֹ֥א בַשָּׁמַ֖יִם הִ֑וא לֵאמֹ֗ר מִ֣י יַעֲלֶה־לָּ֤נוּ הַשָּׁמַ֙יְמָה֙ וְיִקָּחֶ֣הָ לָּ֔נוּ וְיַשְׁמִעֵ֥נוּ אֹתָ֖הּ וְנַעֲשֶֽׂנָּה׃
It is not in the heavens, that you should say, “Who among us can go up to the heavens and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?”
וְלֹא־מֵעֵ֥בֶר לַיָּ֖ם הִ֑וא לֵאמֹ֗ר מִ֣י יַעֲבׇר־לָ֜נוּ אֶל־עֵ֤בֶר הַיָּם֙ וְיִקָּחֶ֣הָ לָּ֔נוּ וְיַשְׁמִעֵ֥נוּ אֹתָ֖הּ וְנַעֲשֶֽׂנָּה׃
Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who among us can cross to the other side of the sea and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?”
כִּֽי־קָר֥וֹב אֵלֶ֛יךָ הַדָּבָ֖ר מְאֹ֑ד בְּפִ֥יךָ וּבִֽלְבָבְךָ֖ לַעֲשֹׂתֽוֹ׃
No, the thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to observe it.
(Thank you Sefaria https://www.sefaria.org/Deuteronomy.30.11-14?lang=bi&aliyot=0)
The Torah is not something to be studied in an ivory tower. It’s not for specific people and then not for others. The Torah is here on earth for everyone. There is a great story in the Gemara about the Tanur shel Achnai. The argument gets so heated between the sages that they start pulling in super natural methods to prove they are right. The walls of the building should fall in, and they start to fall in. The river should run backwards, which it does. Until a voice from heaven calls out and says Ploni Almoni (John Doe) is right. But the answer is that the Torah is not in heaven and so it’s up to us to determine the halacha and who is right.
When I was in yeshivah, I was studying every day all day long. Now that I’m back in the work force, I still carve up time to study. It’s not to the same depth as it used to be, but I try to find glimmers of depth where and when I can.
The cloud makes enterprise grade computing available and accessible to all. I still marvel that my website is running with a global CDN (CloudFront) and the highest level of storage (S3) with optimal compute (Lambda). It boggles my mind.
And just as someone in their garage can make the best new technology, a bank teller (OK, he was a Rav too) can write the most widely used (at least in Israel) commpendium and commentary on the Mishnah (Kehati). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinchas_Kehati
Shabbat Shalom