Instructions

Our perception of self together with our evil inclination towards others veils the truth of our eternal self. Our eternal self sees a whole picture of all nature as one interdependent network.

The Torah provides us the instructions how to reassemble that harmonious connection.
The Torah reveals the many corrupted desires, and evil intention within us and tells us which forces within us correct our minds and hearts. It tells us how to work with qualities of mercy and kindness to balance our nature.
The light (ohr) in the Torah exposes your personal faults and instructions you how to use special forces within you to resist your self-centered inclination.
Following this manual will develop an inner sensitivity for you to love others as yourself, the central theme in the Torah. Reply

The "instructions" in the Torah are coupled with 613 mitzvot which are regarded as obligatory commandments not merely good advise. The impression that some of this explanation gives is incorrect. Reply

Rabbi Freeman,

The interpretation of the word Torah is instruction. Does the word halacha have the same meaning as well?

Thank you, Reply

The Torah guides me down the everyday path of living, learning and loving. Helping me reach heights, I never even expected to climb. Obtaining knowledge, I never dreamed I would be able to learn. But most of all the Torah has opened my mind, heart, spirit and body to my G d, Blessed Is He, with all the love, gratitude and
devotion sent out to him and all of his creations. Reply

Instructions: How to Build the Soul The Kabbalists tell us that the Torah in all it's various formats ( Zohar, The Ari's 'Tree of Life', Five Books of Moses, Abraham's 'Book of Creation'[Seifer Yetzira] ) instructs us how to re-build the shattered soul.

An overview is allegorically provided in Genesis - The process is divided into 6 portions of work to transform the 'I's into one 'heart' - a soul or neshama - a harmonious spiritual system through which the Light flows eternally. On the 7th 'day' we rest upon it's completion.

- the rest of the Torah is commentary on the details of the stages in the soul's development. Reply

Why try at all? Should man undertake a journey
when never reach the end
will ever get to infinity
or do we just pretend?

Only purpose is the climb
upwards and then we fall
all reaching for the sky
while listening to angels call Reply

I am a Christian and unfamiliar with Jewish language. I never knew that "Torah" meant instructions. Now that I know I am ignorant I will correct my error. I don't do well with foreign languages. Reply

Instructions - another comment Since my post on 1-24-11, I have since taken 2 1/2 courses at our local Chabad Center; I also started studying Tanya on 1-11-13 - the most difficult "instruction" I have ever undertaken!

Some lessons seem "easy", others are so difficult that it takes reading, waiting a week, and then re-reading again before I begin to get a grasp of the concept in the lesson. In some of the lessons, one line has "reached out and slapped me across the face" - very similar to the old Gillette commercial on TV.

Today, I'm left with two predominant feelings: the first is the more I learn, the less I know and the second is so much to learn and so little time!

I would also add that the beginning of Tanya has expanded the depth of the Daily Doses - the greatest joy of all is study; even better is when I can apply that learning into my daily routine. Reply

One Simple Instruction (RE: Harry Bamburger poem) The Torah is one simple instruction
- expressed elegantly by the line in the poem: "disapear and then you grow"

The 'I' is only a shattered part of the original whole, immersed in self-love and at most faulty connections to others.

I need to be included in all, and all must be included in me - Then we grow into the global one in which the Lght of Life flows between us. Reply

exactly Far too many rabbis including Chabad use the word "blueprint" for Torah. A blueprint is static, rigid, little flexibility. "Instructions" are variable. There are two ways to skin a cat, not just one. I like the word " instructions ". It's a minor word difference but the ramifications are far reaching. For example, rote/blueprint learning is static. Rote/regurgitation is the lowest level of learning. Up the " instruction " ladder you have hypotheses, information collection, analysis, synthesis, theories, judgements, conclusions. I am not making a value judgement. If rote is as far as you can go, at least you are trying. Reply

More than "instructions" I love the Torah. Baruch Ha Shem it is much more than instructions.
For me it's a loveletter too. Reply

A short little poem... Dear Dr. Harry,

Your poem reminded me of a definition of love that my son sent to me:

Love is the willingness to disappear oneself with the intention of being found in another. Reply

A short little poem, you all inspired me to write Say there is a G-d
but do you really know

You study and you pray
what do you have to show

Return to what you were
disappear and then you grow Reply

instructions all things that were written before time were written for our 'learning' that we, through patience and comfort of the scriputures might have hope. Reply

Instructions I was thinking of the Torah today and thinking how unworthy a lowlife I am for the likes of a Torah...then I thought of what was going on tonight...and it came to me that alot of people are wearing Tefillin and doing special prayers so I went on the Rebbe's website and read about Tefillin and ya know that is quite different...I have never seen anything quite like it...and I had to say as far as my learning is concerned that is quite a jump...that is quite different...but for some strange reason G-d asked me to read up about this and I did....maybe therre is no G-d for someone tonight who is wearing Tefillin and praying....and I am to open up my Torah and work hard for this person-we all work hard for G-d and for each other Reply

Agreed KKOC - Anon In my humble opinion, all learning begins with one basic and is added to from there; we have to start somewhere. In using your analogy, sometimes the student surpasses the teacher and becomes the mentor. Also, the student who desires to learn may elevate the mentor's desire to learn more, just to stay ahead of the student.

Some learning has an instruction manual, other learning is, as the Army called it "OJT" (on the job training.) Within OJT, mistakes will be made and experience will teach the lesson.

My best teachers in my youth were those who taught for the sheer joy of imparting knowledge; sadly, we do not seem to see that as much today. In hindsight, I learned that some I thought were terrible, actually taught me the most.

I may lower expectations of others, but never of myself. If I'm the wrong teacher or student, I will step away; but if that teacher has knowledge I want, I will stay. Reply

Teachers With all due respect, everyone is my teacher, from the lowest sinner, to the most learned Rabbi. I learn from them all. and sometimes they learn a little from me too!

The lessons we teach and learn, were taught to use before we were born. They may be hidden with a single concealment, or concealment within concealment, but are still there waiting to be discovered Reply

agreed KKOC I agree with ' I cannot teach what i have not learned '. One who learns the aleph-bet can teach both. But if your mentor never learned gimmel onwards, what use is the learning ? If your mentor learned all the alphabet , but not how to read, what is the use ?

In the Doc HH scenario, there are some who do read before they use the microwave. In your own scenario you know that preparing chicken will not be the same as preparing beef. Some people will be content to learn from mistakes.

Applying the above to teaching, there are those mentors who lack the ingenuity/preparedness to learn from their students. They are not astute at picking up learning styles, or don't even know about learning styles. One can make excuses for them. Some teachers are poor listeners. Some lack the ingenuity to teach by explaining the wrong answer. Bottom line: Some mentor- student relationships are not meant to be.

Like i said, it is a sore point. Solutions: lower your expectations, or politely step away. Reply

Learning vs. Teaching - Anonymous I don't remember if it was from a Chassidic tale or words of the Rebbe of righteous memory, but I do remember the lesson.

A student who learns how to write the aleph can teach it to one who does not know how to torm the letter and a student who knows the aleph-bet can teach both, thus reinforcing his or her skill.

I can't teach what I haven't learned.

It is easy to learn the mitzvot; however, instructions for performing those mitzvot correctly are necessary.

Dr. Hamburger's use of a microwave is very apt indeed. I have burned food in a new microwave because I didn't read the new manual. If I carry his image one step further, just because I know how to prepare chicken in my new microware, it does not mean I know how to prepare beef in it ... the two skills are similar, but different. Reply

What does Torah mean ? I have heard Torah translated as follows :
Instructions
blueprint
teaching

All three are correct for me since they convey the same message.

Be that as it may, when i was first asked this question on the first day of a Chumash class, and out of the blue, i replied " learning ". The rabbi said " No ".

Nobody got the right answer. It was ' teaching '.

Five lessons later the narrowness of the rabbi became more and more apparent. I quit the class. Even if ' learning ' was the wrong answer, it should have been explained why.

i still maintain that Torah means learning. What's the difference between teaching and learning as it applies to Torah ? You can leave it as a rhetorical question. What is Torah and what is Torah study in a teacher-student classroom relationship are the same question.

It is not my ego at stake. It is a matter of understanding that one must choose mentors that they can learn from. Your question today hit a sore spot.

Shalom Reply