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If you have the opportunity to do so, stand next to an open Torah scroll.

This thing you’ll be looking at isn’t really a scroll or a book. It’s not really a code of law, and it’s not really a story — or a collection of stories. When we look at the Sefer Torah, we should see it like a mirror, reflecting our own humanity back at us. It is laid in front of us to be read so that we can hear ourselves, hear our voices, through the voices of the past.

What is it like to believe something no one else does? That’s Abraham.

What are the results of generational trauma? That’s Isaac.

What is it like to wrestle with yourself, with others and the Divine? That’s Jacob.

All of these people and all of these tales, mythic as they are, are a way of looking at yourself and the world around you. Torah, this ancient collection of laws, stories, arguments, savagery, gentleness, family, community, war, harvest, sexuality, sacrifice and more is the sum total of one human family experience. When we take it all in, when we process it, flip it on its head, and find out what it has to offer us, we have engaged in Torah study. And when we learn the lessons of Torah study and apply it to our lives, then we have become one with Torah.

Thousands of years ago, someone put together this collection of literature because they wanted you to see it and hear it. Do them a favor and have a glance. You may see yourself staring back.


- Rabbi Patrick

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