In this week's Torah portion, Yitro, we read about the giving of the Torah on Mt. Sinai, where G-d Speaks to the entire nation of the Jewish People. He speaks the 1st 2 Commandments, and Moses gives over the following 8. The rest of the "5 Books of the Torah" are transcribed by Moses as they occur for the next 40 years, as directed by God. The Torah differs from other books radically, in that it is a Divine Wisdom. In the stories and laws are contained layer upon layer of deeper meaning, revealed by the Rabbis throughout history, and continuing to this day. In the last chapter of his book, If G-d is so good, why is the world so bad? Rabbi Benjamin Blech describes a meeting he once had with a Jewish mystic that exemplifies how we are continually uncovering wisdom from the Torah.
He was visiting Israel when a friend told him there was someone very special that he wanted him to meet. A saintly scholar who lived in the holy city of Tzfat, in northern Israel. When he met him, the man revealed to him a mystical insight into the Torah, but on two conditions: that this secret not be revealed publicly until he informed the Rabbi that the time was ripe, and that he never reveal his identity, disturbing his lifelong pursuit of anonymity. This secret had a great effect on the Rabbi's life & view of the world, but he never divulged it to anyone. Years passed, until one day the mystic called the Rabbi and said simply: "Now is the time."
What was the "secret"? It was the "secret of sentences." Said the mystic: "Know that the verses in the 5 books of Moses, the Torah, correspond to the years of history. Every major event of all times will have some allusion to it, direct or indirect..." Rabbi Blech was doubtful. So he said, "what about the state of Israel?" Israel became a state in 1948; in the Jewish calendar, 1948 is the year 5708 (we are now in 5774). Painstakingly, Rabbi Blech began counting from the 1st verse of Genesis, describing the creation of the world. When he reached the 5,708th verse, it was Deuteronomy 30:3: "And the L-rd your G-d will turn your captivity and have compassion on you, and will return and gather you from all the peoples where the L-rd your G-d has scattered you." Shocked, Rabbi Blech's finger moved 3 verses back, to the verse corresponding to the Gregorian year of 1945, the last year of the holocaust: "The secret things belong to the L-rd our G-d; and the things that are revealed to us and our children forever are to do all the words of this Law." The 11th-century sage, Bachya Ibn Pakuda, said: "If we could understand G-d we would be G-d." Perhaps the "secret things" - the pain that occurs to us, has no mortal answer or reasoning to it; it is completely incomprehensible. But we are to know that there is a Divine purpose behind it; nothing is random.
After I read this, I decided to look up one last event, the miraculous victories by Israel in 1967 (5727). Israel conquered the west bank of the Jordan, Judea & Samaria, but halted there, not entering Jordan proper. The 5,727th verse in the Torah states: "(Moses) said to them, 'I am 120 years old today; I can no longer go out and come in, for Hashem has said to me, 'You shall not cross this Jordan.'"
Clearly, the Torah is no ordinary book. It is a guide to life; an instruction manual and blueprint. It has stayed the cornerstone of our people for thousands of years, through thick & thin, for good reason. Let's appreciate every story and detail of law that we read, knowing that there is so much more than meets the eye.
Shabbat Shalom!
-Rabbi Daniel
