and I achieved, don't believe him. If
he says I wearied myself and I did
achieve, then believe him.'"
The Torah, its commentaries and
applications is an entire body of lit-
erature comprising thousands of
pages; to view it superficially is to
degrade the Torah and, of necessity,
to misunderstand it. If the Torah is
truly divine, viewing it as superficial
is indeed a desecration of God and
His word. A real understanding of
the Torah, in all of its facets,
requires hard work and dedication
over time; there is no short cut. This
obligation to learn Torah, to make it
our life, is an obligation incumbent
upon every single Jew, not just the
rabbi or scholar.
No wonder then that so many
Jews feel that observance of the
Torah is meaningless. They have no
idea of what it is. I am amazed at so
many Jews, particularly at this time
of year, who attend services for pure-
ly social or nostalgic reasons or sim-
ply out of habit. Davening for them
is just saying words or singing songs.
How many truly understand the
words they are saying? How many
have learned or even think about
why they are saying these particular
words or the historical development
of the prayers?
For too many of us, Judaism is to
a large extent nothing more than
perfunctory rituals, observances and
prohibitions — empty and bereft of
meaning because there is no under-
standing. Authentic Judaism is a way
of life both beautiful and meaning-
ful, sacred and divinely ordained.
Without real learning and true
understanding it becomes so superfi-
cial as to border on superstition and
magic.
Let us all, on this Shabbat Shuva,
rededicate ourselves to a true return
to real Judaism by committing our-
selves to spending more time and
effort truly making Torah the focus
of our lives. 1-1
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1999
Detroit Jewish News
83