By Lonny Moses

But here’ the thing. The Torah was not fully created when it came down from Sinai. The process Rabbi Akiva was engaging in, and the process in which we are now starting on this list serve, is Torah. That is, we are all currently engaged in the continued revelatory process of Torah, so long as we choose to be a part of it. And if it took God 40 days to create his part, shouldn’t it take quite a bit longer for us to add ours??

---Our Lesson---

When Moses left the Israelites at the bottom of Sinai, he said he’d be back in 40 days with the Torah. Little did they know that the Torah would still be revealing itself 3000 years later. If they had, perhaps they wouldn’t have been so alarmed when Moses came down less than one day late.

Sometimes, we act like the same impatient Israelites who were at the bottom of Sinai. They wanted immediate gratification. They wanted the Torah to be revealed to them that instant, and when Moses was just a day late they panicked. Often, we look at the bare text of the Torah, and demand that it reveal its meaning immediately before us.

Yet thousands of years of tradition, text and interpretation should teach us better. If Rabbi Akiva was still struggling with the meaning of the Torah thousands of years after Moses, should we have it easier? Think about that the next time you look at a passage and expect its meaning to be apparent—revealed immediately before your eyes. Then, before you pass judgment, consider reading one of the many Midrashim or commentaries that are available on the parasha (Many can be found at Chabad.org, but if you want others, give me a call and I can hook you up).

---What You Can Do---

Clearly, the Torah, as a text, is not meant to be cut and dry. Each line contains hundreds of meanings; each story thousands of interpretations. Each Jewish person who engages with Jewish thought, text and tradition gives themselves the opportunity to add their meaning and interpretation to Torah.

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