Dear Congregation Beth Ohr,
The Torah and modern life seem to magically aline. Last week we read about the sexual assault of Jacob’s daughter Dina by a prince, in the backdrop of countless individuals coming forward to share their own stories of sexual coercion and assault. It was pointed out to me by one of our members that we watch as a baker’s fate hangs in the balance in our Torah portion and also in the Supreme Court. The more life changes, the more it stays the same.
Ben Bag Bag says: “Turn it over and turn it over, for everything is in it. Look deeply into it, and grow old with it, and spend time over it, and do not stir from it, because there is no greater portion." (Avot 5:22).
This is exactly how I feel. These texts have accompanied our people for thousands of years. On the one hand we live in a new age with vastly different social norms. On the other hands, deep themes of life are contained in the Torah and never change, issues of power, coercion, jealousy, brotherhood, infertility, conflict, justice, and even reconciliation.
I imagine that the words of Torah have layers and layers beneath them, like strata of bedrock and history and human experience. Each and every time we study, we can skim the surface or we can act like geologists, discovering the gems beneath, seeing how other generations dealt with the circumstances around them.
Each person is born without being able to download the memories of other people. We can only live our life, but we reach across history and what divides us by studying together, conversing and seeing what Rashi in the 12th Century, and Rabbi Neil Gilman in the 21st century said about the same theme. The layers are sometimes distinct from one another, with discord among the different voices. But with enough practice in studying Torah, it’s like sitting at a dinner table seeing the different characters in your family laugh.
Turn it over and turn it over, for everything is in it. When life seems to be new and overwhelming, we might remember what Kohelet said: What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. (1:9)
Come study Torah with us on Shabbat mornings: 9:00-9:45 AM.
Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Bernstein
Affiliated with United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism