The Soul of Torah

Shavout commemorates the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. But exactly what was it that was given to Moses at Mount Sinai?

On one level, this has been the major division point amount the various movements in Judaism. The Orthodox view is that G-d gave Moses the613 commandments and the principles of how to apply them – the Oral Torah. The written Torah (the 5 books of Moses) was given to Moses over the next 40 years. The Reform view is that G-d told Moses the contents of the 5 books, which Moses wrote down (to the best of his recollection) over the next 40 years. The Conservative view(s) fall somewhere in between (There are actually 4 distinct positions in the Conservative movement… I’ll talk about those some other time).

However, that’s only part of the question. The Mishna tells us that Abraham (and Isaac and Jacob) kept the entire Torah. How could they have done that if it wasn’t given until the time of Moses?

There is a Kabalistic story that explains this. It says that the Torah was created by G-d 974 generations before Adam. What was created was the “soul” of Torah; the underlying truths and messages of the Torah. Abraham understood the Soul of Torah and was able to keep it. Were his actions identical to ours? Probably not. He probably didn’t wear Teffilin or keep Kosher in the same way we do. But the essence of the laws were kept.

At Mount Sinai, the soul was given a body. That body is what we know today as Torah. The underlying truths and messages contained in the soul of Torah, were rapped in worldly actions. Since that body was also given by G-d, from that time on, it was no longer sufficient to just keep the soul of the Torah, we needed to also observe the body.

The converse is also true. In today’s world it is not sufficient to just keep the body of the Torah; we also need to honour the soul. Strict adherence to the letter of the law, without any attention being paid to the soul, is an empty observance.

This Shavout, lets all try to accept the body and soul of the Torah into our lives.

Chag Sameach.