The Earth is the Lord's: Part 3 - Books and Study

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"In almost every Jewish home in Eastern Europe, even in the humblest and the poorest, stood a bookcase full of volumes; proud and stately folio tomes together with shy, small-sized books. Books were neither an asylum for the frustrated nor a means for occasional edification. They were furnaces of living strength. The stomachs were empty, the homes barren, but the minds were crammed with the riches of the Torah."

In the Yivo Library in New York is an old book saved from the countless libraries recently burned in Europe, bearing the stamp: "The Society of Wood-Choppers for the Study of Mishnah (the earliest part of the Talmud) in Berditshev." Who ever heard of wood-choppers studying bible commentary in spare moments at work. They read and studied the scriptures as a way of "clinging to the source of all realtiy." In the eyes of Hasidim, "study for the sake of acquiring scholarship was considered a desecration." The aim was to partake in spiritual beauty.

There is a great story about Rabbi Zusya who started to study a volume of the Talmud. A day later, his disciples noticed that he was still dwelling on the first page. They assumed he must have encountered a difficult passage and was trying to solve it. When a number of days passed and he was still immersed in the first page, they gathered the courage to ask him why he hadn't proceeded further. Rabbi Zusya answered, "I feel so good here, why should I go elsewhere."

Nothing could be taken literally, neither Scripture nor nature. "No man, even if he lived a thousand years, would be able to fathom the mysteries of the world." Everything must be stared at and pondered and discussed and re-read. Nothing was simple, the simple was mysterious. Every word of scripture and ever living being.

Comments

Candace and Stuart said…
"I feel so good here, why should I go elsewhere."

I love this.
May 8, 2009 at 8:58 AM
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