Judaism and Scholarship

 

“Who is wise? He who learns from every person.”- Rabbi Ben Zoma (Pirkei Avot 4:1).

Learning and Education have always been a prime value in Judaism. Likewise, it was the fabric of my upbringing. “Study and Educate yourself,” my late mother repeatedly told me, quoting her own father’s words, “your scholarship is the only property no one will ever be able to take from you.”

The cultural centrality of learning was always part of my home environment. Since my late father was an observant Jew, Shabbat, and Holy Days, relieved from mundane duties, were dedicated to studying, furthering my Jewish education and knowledge. Every erev Shabbat or festive meal involved learning and had to have a Dvar Torah which included a verse from scriptures or the sages and structured in the form of question and answer. Occasionally, they laced with some funny stories or some anecdotes Those were some of the most memorable and precious moments.

The Mishnah, (Avot 3.3), goes as far as saying that a table where no Dvar Torah is shared is akin to eating from “the sacrifices of the dead.” Contrarily, a table where Dvar Torah is shared is comparable to G-d’s own table.

Scholarship and the empowerment of knowledge is also part of the three letter acronym that compose the word, Chabad (In Hebrewחב"ד  ). The abbreviation stands for the three forms of knowledge, Chochma – wisdom, Binah – comprehension and Da’at – knowledge.

Studying and learning are the source of knowledge. In many ancient societies and institutions such as in Mesopotamia, ancient Egypt, where writing involved many complicated symbols, these two were limited to the scribal class. That, according to Lord, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, resulted in “a hierarchical society,” where “only an elite will ever know how to read and write. They are the knowledge class,” concludes Sacks. In such societies, the burden of preserving and transferring knowledge, clearly, rested on a select few. Sacks also suggests that “the intervention of the alphabet was the birth of the possibility of universal literacy and the beginning of the end of hierarchical societies.

And this is where the ancient Yisraelites differ from other Peoples of antiquity. They had an advantage. According to Professor Douglas Petrovich, “the world’s oldest alphabet was actually an early form of Hebrew.” Petrovich uses “Numerous examples of inscriptions that not only pointed to Hebrew as the first alphabet, but also validate(s) the biblical account of the Israelites in Egypt.” (https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/alphabet/new-discoveries.htm).   Mastering the skills of writing and reading certainly made the task of learning and increasing literacy easier and more accessible to many.

The Jewish culture has always cherished learning and stressed the importance of passing it on from one generation to the next. Our sages could not emphasize enough the importance of learning. Every Jew is compelled to study, each according to their ability and skills and establish a fixed time to study Torah (M. Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Torah Study, Ch.1).

Already in the book of Devarim (Deuteronomy), 6:4, Am Yisrael is instructed to recite the Shema, the monotheistic dogma of the Jewish faith. Moreover, in Devarim 6:7, we were commanded to teach it to the young ones, day, and night, wherever they are, at home or on the road, “You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” The duty to pursue learning was a never-ending one.

Torah is more than what we know as the “Five Books of Moses.” The foundation texts in the Jewish culture include the entire Tanach and the Talmud, compiled between the first and seventh centuries. The Talmud is comprised of the oral tradition as well as debates, commentaries and insights of the sages aimed at helping us perceive and discern G-d’s teachings and how to apply them in our daily lives.

Noting the importance and above all the imperative of Torah study, the Babylonian Talmud went as far as saying that “the study of Torah is equal to all the other commandments,” (Shabbat 127a).

It is essential to mention that Torah study is not limited to a specific age. When Rabban Gamliel declared “Provide yourself a teacher,” it was with the intention that one should continue the learning process through one’s life, under the guidance of a teacher regardless of age or social standing (Pirkei Avot 1:16).

The duty of studying the Torah is also reinforced in Joshua 1:8, “This Book of Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.”

There are rewards attached to such an undertaking, as the last part of the verse states, “For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.” The Midrash even argues that Torah can be compared to water. Just as our physical subsistence depends on water, our very spiritual, moral, and educational growth begins and ends with Torah.

Furthermore, according to Rabbi Meir, “anyone who involves himself in Torah for its own sake merits many things, and, moreover, the entire world is worthwhile for his sake.” (Pirkei Avot 6:1).

Although this article merely scratches the surface of the vast subject of Judaism and scholarship, one should not be surprised when Benjamin Nathans (Nathans B. Beyond the Pale: The Jewish encounter with Late Imperial Russia. Berkeley: University of California Press; 2002. Pp.111-13) infers that literacy rates and levels have generally been higher in Jewish communities than those of other groups among whom Jews dwelled.

Shavua tov to all fellow Jews. May it be a week of joy, abundant health, saturated with learning and growth.