Birthing Worlds through Torah
This essay is an adaptation of my Foreword to Shalom Orzach’s new book, “Telling Times: A weekly exploration of the Torah Portion in the context of its modern-day echoes” (available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DGLJFW2Z)
כִּֽי־קָר֥וֹב אֵלֶ֛יךָ הַדָּבָ֖ר מְאֹ֑ד בְּפִ֥יךָ וּבִֽלְבָבְךָ֖ לַעֲשֹׂתֽוֹ׃
It is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to do it.(Deuteronomy 30:14)
Moshe Rabbeinu, our beloved teacher, stood at the threshold of his final days and knew to emphasize above all the urgency of remembering that the Torah is not in some distant place. Not only is Torah within reach, but it is also an active thing, a process that can only in part be understood as Revelation from without, from above. Truly, as Moshe taught us, Torah is also very much within. In our mouths. In our hearts.
Millenia later, rabbinic interpreters would deepen this concept:
אָמַר רַב אַמֵּי: מַאי דִּכְתִיב ״כִּי נָעִים כִּי תִשְׁמְרֵם בְּבִטְנֶךָ יִכּוֹנוּ יַחְדָּיו עַל שְׂפָתֶיךָ״, אֵימָתַי דִּבְרֵי תוֹרָה נְעִימִים — בִּזְמַן שֶׁתִּשְׁמְרֵם בְּבִטְנֶךָ, וְאֵימָתַי תִּשְׁמְרֵם בְּבִטְנֶךָ — בִּזְמַן שֶׁיִּכּוֹנוּ יַחְדָּו עַל שְׂפָתֶיךָ
Rav Ami said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you; let them be firmly attached together to your lips” (Prov. 22:18)? When are words of Torah pleasant? When they are protected within you (lit, “in your belly”). And when is it that Torah is protected within you? When the words of Torah are attached to your lips.
רַבִּי זֵירָא אָמַר מֵהָכָא: ״שִׂמְחָה לָאִישׁ בְּמַעֲנֵה פִיו וְדָבָר בְּעִתּוֹ מַה טּוֹב״, אֵימָתַי שִׂמְחָה לָאִישׁ — בִּזְמַן שֶׁמַּעֲנֶה בְּפִיו. לָשׁוֹן אַחֵר: אֵימָתַי שִׂמְחָה לָאִישׁ בְּמַעֲנֵה פִיו — בִּזְמַן שֶׁדָּבָר בְּעִתּוֹ מַה טּוֹב
Rabbi Zeira said from here: “One has joy in the response of their mouth; and a word in due season, how good it is” (Prov. 15:23). When does one have joy? When a response is in their mouth. Another version: When does one have joy in the answer of their mouth? When they experience the fulfillment of: A word in due season, how good it is.
רַבִּי יִצְחָק אָמַר מֵהָכָא: ״כִּי קָרוֹב אֵלֶיךָ הַדָּבָר מְאֹד בְּפִיךָ וּבִלְבָבְךָ לַעֲשׂוֹתוֹ״, אֵימָתַי קָרוֹב אֵלֶיךָ — בִּזְמַן שֶׁבְּפִיךָ וּבִלְבָבְךָ לַעֲשׂוֹתוֹ
Rabbi Yitzcḥak said that this idea is derived from here: “But the matter is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it” (Deut. 30:14). When is it very near to you? When it is in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it, i.e., when you articulate your Torah study. (Talmud Eiruvin 54a)
We can, without too much effort, translate the combined wisdom of these three ancient sages into a three-step methodology, based on Moshe’s words, for experiencing the joy of Torah:
- internalize Torah (protect Torah within you)
- apply Torah to new circumstances (a word in due season)
- share Torah (do it)
The abundance of today’s Torah learning communities (digital and in-person) is the very embodiment of what Rav Ami, Rabbi Zeira, and Rabbi Yitzchak had in mind: calls to mindful action based on diverse and passionate engagement with the Torah text itself and the new ideas it continues to generate. We have Torah in our bellies, it must always on our lips, and we must cultivate our ability to share it with strength and eloquence.
Decades ago, I was setting out for a gap year in Israel, ready to explore my own Jewish identity, hopeful to find my place as a leader, curious about what lay ahead. The orientation leader in that pivotal moment, a shaliach named Shalom Orzach, looked us all in the eye and adjured us to “hit the ground running.” I believe in those words — and in that teacher — more than ever, especially right now, as the publication of his new book of Torah commentary, Telling Times, will roughly coincide with the first yahrtzeit of the massacre October 7. If we thought we were building the world before that Dark Day, we must now redouble our pace and be part of the greatest rebuilding in Jewish history since the founding of the State of Israel itself. May our ongoing work bring our loved ones’ memories blessing. We have certainly hit the ground. Now it is time to run.
We must bring forth even more of the Torah we inherited from Moshe Rabbeinu, tap into the methodology of Rav Ami, Rabbi Zeira, and Rabbi Yitzchak — to protect, interpret, and apply Torah — for the sake of our once-again wounded People. We have always been bigger than any pain meted out against us. Just look at Moshe, Miriam, and Aharon in the Israelites’ post-Egyptian rebecoming. Look at Ami, Zeira, Yitzchak and Beruriah, Meir, and Akiva in the post-Destruction of the Temple era of Jewish redefinition. Examples of Jewish post-traumatic growth abound in our history. And here we are again, (re)creating ourselves, comforting ourselves, reminding ourselves — and the world — of who we are, where we come from, and the world we are committed to partnering with the Holy One to restore, preserve, and strengthen.
Torah is a living, breathing force that pulses through generations, not a relic but a reminder, echoing through the ages, demanding we remember that today’s interpreters of Torah are tasked with the same sacred work as sages of old. Just as our ancestors shaped worlds with their insights and actions, we too are empowered to birth new worlds through the wisdom passed down to us.
Like Moshe, we stand at the crossroads of past and future, responsible for passing on not only the teachings of the Torah but the emotional intensity of its message. The Torah’s power lies not only in its ancient origins but in its relevance today. Torah is indispensable to a Jewish heart.
My gratitude to my friend, my teacher, Shalom Orzach, for demonstrating throughout his life and in his new Sefer that we are up to the task of Telling Torah in our Times, for reminding us that the wisdom we seek is also right here, within our sacred texts, within the sacred interpretations we are so very blessed to inherit, and within our creative capacities.
The time to act, to create, and to lead is now.
Just as our ancestors did, we, too, can birth beautiful worlds. We must.
יְגִ֣יעַ כַּ֭פֶּיךָ כִּ֣י תֹאכֵ֑ל אַ֝שְׁרֶ֗יךָ וְט֣וֹב לָֽךְ׃
You shall enjoy the fruit of your labors;
you shall be happy and you shall prosper.(Psalm 128:2)