Today, I met with a fellow student who is doing her doctorate in
Tanach studies.
She needed help with translating some research for her dissertation.
What a refreshing break it was. What a bliss to be able to
unchain myself from the daily chores, from a world that is slowly draining
itself off any trace of decency and dignity, where personal agenda replaces the
imperative to make the world a better place and where the commandment to choose
life is crushed by cultures of death. .
As someone who grew up in an observant home with a father who
was very knowledgeable about the Tanach , I developed a wonderful and very
rewarding love affair with this great book.
It, therefore, deeply saddens me to witness our Jewish people (the ones I care
about first and foremost) distance themselves from the BEST piece of writing
ever presented to mankind.
I do not prescribe to the belief that the Tanach was written by G-d.
Humans, like you and I, I believe, made of flesh and blood with emotions, wants, desires,
faults and imperfections, wrote it. They did, however, have one trait in
common. They were very wise.
The Tanach is not just about the righteous or people that lived by or
adhered to the strictest of moral codes. It is about reality and, like any
reality, where humankind is involved, it is composed of the good, the bad, the
beautiful the not so good, the not so bad and the not so beautiful. It tells
stories of betrayal, sacrifice, love, deceit, power struggles, conflicts, pain,
joy and some victories.
Its narrators were very crafty.
Each tale, each experience was meant to teach, to educate. Their
lessons are so great, woven so intricately into each book, each chapter and
each verse. Their eternal message is, sometimes, camouflaged in the form of
parables, adorned with the finest of pearls, and sometimes hidden in plain
sight, just waiting to be uncovered.
As I read and re-read them, they unfold new angles, new
insights, and new understandings. They are the fountainhead of unending wisdom,
a river of pure, clear water that refreshes one's tired soul, the elixir of
Life, if only we opened ourselves to absorbing them and their teachings.
It is a book that recounts the sagas of a unique and determined
nation, from its infancy through adulthood. It describes its various stages of growth
and spiritual development as it never fails to list its contributions to a, often,
hostile world.
So, my dear fellow Jews, when your tired spirit seeks a respite,
longs for a quiet corner away from the madding crowd or wishes to take a break
from a troubled burdening world, heed my advice. Shake off your shackles and
delve into the most soothing ancient cradle called Tanach.
Let it lull your troubled
essence on the verses of Psalms and reignite any fading spark which is begging
to be revived. Imbibe the wisdom of Solomon and reconnect with the treasure of
our Jewish soul. Allow its pillar of fire to guide you back onto our glorious
path washed out by the foamy and angry waves of a grim history. Let it nourish your every cell with renewed
vigor and be awaken to a bright new dawn in our Eternal Covenant.
