Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Jewish
Becoming Torah

Becoming Torah

Last updated on: May 23, 2023 at 10:52 am by Hebrew College

0 Comments

Becoming Torah 2023-05-23T10:52:45-04:00 Hebrew College

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

By Rabbi Avi Strausberg `15

A Drasha for Shavuot

As a rabbi and someone who genuinely loves learning Jewish text, I am fortunate to learn a lot of Torah. Over the last 15 years, my learning has taken me from the midrash of Israeli feminists to the hasidic writings of Kedushat Levi, from the stories of our ancient rabbis in the pages of Gemara to modern poetry on God and revelation. And, yet I wonder: To what extent has my learning made an impact on my actions? To be more precise, I am afraid that all of my learning has simply been an enjoyable and perhaps selfish intellectual exercise that has failed to transform me into a person of Torah. Do I learn Torah simply because I enjoy it? Or, do I learn Torah to allow it to transform me into a vessel of holiness in this world?

In his drasha (short exegesis) on Parashat Bereishit, Rabbi Kalonymous Kalman Shapira writes what I read as a scathing comment about one who learns Torah but is not transformed through their learning. He teaches, “A person who learns Torah but is not transformed thereby into Torah and holiness, is merely a bookshelf containing books—he remains merely a piece of wood, as he was before.” The goal of learning Torah is not simply the enjoyment of learning itself. Rather, the purpose of learning is to be transformed through the process of learning into Torah and holiness itself. We don’t just learn Torah, we become the Torah. We don’t just study about holiness, we become holiness. However, if the learning doesn’t translate to our actions, then we are simply dead, pieces of wood passively holding up books.

Rabbi Shapira offers us both a strong caution as well as a powerful call with which to approach our learning. Am I transformed through my learning into Torah and holiness?

Rabbi Natan Zvi Finkel, a 19th century Mussar thinker, teaches similarly that the value of Torah is inseparable from action. He takes it a step further, however, and teaches that what we learn from the Israelites responding, “We will do and we will listen” at Sinai, is that not only is the essence of Torah in action, but that action itself precedes and takes priority over Torah. If we sit and learn Torah all day and it has no effect on who we are in the world and how we conduct ourselves, then we have done nothing at all. The very root of the word Torah contains in it the meaning to instruct. The purpose of Torah is instruction—to teach us how to act. Rabbi Finkel boldly teaches, “without action, there is no value to Torah at all.”¹

Despite my deep love of Torah, I wonder to what extent my learning translates to action. Through my learning, am I actually transformed into Torah itself or do I remain the bookshelf holding the book?

As we get ready to stand once again at Sinai and receive the Torah, I encourage each of us to try to approach each encounter with Torah as an opportunity to be transformed—to ask ourselves: what is this encounter with Torah asking me to do? What will I change about my actions as a result of this learning? What if this year, with every text we uncover, every book we learn, we take one step closer to becoming Torah ourselves?

Please email the author if you’d like to share any feedback.

1. Rabbi Natan Zvi Finkel, Ohr HaTzafun, The Torah and Action

Rabbi Avi Strausberg is the Director of Congregational Learning at the Temple of Aaron in St. Paul, Minnesota and the creator of the Daf Yomi haiku blog inhaiku.wordpress.com. She was ordained at the Hebrew College Rabbinical School.

Seventy Faces of Torah

shavuot

Previous Post

May 15, 2023

Dolphin Skins and Aluminum Foil: A Legacy of Wanderers

Next Post

May 30, 2023 Hidden in Plain Sight

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Did God call in Genesis chapter 1 also small Aleph?"

Herrnhut

Aleph: A Love Letter

""Maybe this is the year to take the Yovel seriously even if we can’t take ..."

William T. Orr, Jr.

Proclaiming Release: Why We Need a ..."

"very nice!"

Jeremy Golan

If Only It Were Now

McChickenboc

The Burden of Miracles

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month April 2026 March 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz