A Passion for Jewish Reading, Part 1

My Personal Rabbinic Passion: The Recovery of Authentic Jewish Reading

Part 1 August 22, 2005

The Rabbis of the Talmud distinguished between prayer and study. Prayer they considered to be an activity of Hayei Shaah- the life of the hour. In this view prayer is likened to eating and sleeping-a necessary activity for daily survival and living a life. The study of Torah, however, they considered to be an activity of Hayei Olam Haba- the life of eternity. They considered the act of learning, of reading the sacred text to be of transcendent value. There was something about study that takes us beyond the daily exigencies of life. Authentic learning transportes us to a place unconcerned with mere survival and sustenance. Thus the well known expression in rabbinic literature: "Talmud Torah Kneged Kulam" The Study of Torah is equal to all of the mitzvot-commandments-in the Torah.

Torah study, however, is a mystifying for many. Most American Jews, with a religious school education or less have learned 'about' Judaism, but have not learned how to read (study) Torah. Even college courses in Jewish studies often only provide an academic reading of Jewish tradition. They fail to convey the wonder of authentic Jewish learning.

I come out of the religious school and college Jewish studies experience and can attest that I did not really learn to love Jewish learning until much later. I received a paltry Jewish religious school education, spitballs and all. In college I had great teachers in Jewish studies, but did not emerge from undergraduate school with a passion for the texts of Jewish lore. During those years I experienced the orthodox yeshivah which introduced me to traditional reading. However I found that the very orthodox Yeshivah world, while filled with passion, failed to deal satisfactorily with the hard questions and honest questions that I was seeking as a young reader of Judaism.

It was in rabbinical school that I really discovered the love of Jewish learning. Most people think of rabbinical school as a form of professional education, training young men and women to serve congregations. But I did not go to rabbinical school to become a congregational rabbi. I went in search of authentic and transforming Jewish learning and a fascination with the the infinite world of meaning of Jewish texts that I had tasted in tiny morsels my college years. In this respect I was grateful that I chose to go the Jewish Theological Seminary (even though I had not grown up in the Conservative Movement which this institution represented), because of all the movement seminaries it was the most serious institution about teaching students how to become a serious, engaged and open minded Jewish readers .

This love of reading and study of Torah has animated my life, both personally and as a rabbi throughout the years to this day. I always told myself during those years that even if I left the professional rabbinate, I was so lucky to be given a profound Jewish education which would be a source of inspiration throughout my life. It turned out that I went into the professional rabbinate , but I did so with a dedication to learning and teaching that has always stamped my public rabbinate.

One of the reasons I formed Panim Hadashot was to create a context where Jewish reading could be rediscoverd and practiced and that the rabbi would be prized first and foremost as a teacher and mentor in the wisdom of the texts as applied to life. Could there be a place in the Jewish community which was focused and dedicated to the restoration of the place of "Jewish wisdom through reading"? This is a tall order in a fast food, fast information, fast gratification culture.

In the piece that follows I will share a description of reading which I am trying to restore to a central place in our lives as human beings and as Jews.

Rabbi Dov Gartenberg