So far we’ve lifted up your money to a higher place with an aluminum can; your time with some candles; your house with a small Hebrew scroll; your food with a few new shopping habits; your head, heart and arm with some black leather straps; your family life with a monthly dip and your kids with some special education. One crucial element has been left out: Your brain.
Jews are known as bright people. In fact, we’ve been a people of books and wisdom for 4,000 years. Which makes for a lot of books and wisdom. What kind of wisdom? Well, there’s the basic what-to-do-and-what-not-to-do stuff. Then there’s the stories and legends. And there’s the real deep what-is-life-all-about wisdom, including the secrets of the Kabbalah and Chassidic masters. It’s all there waiting for you. In fact, it’s your personal heritage.
Here are a few ways to pick up that wisdom—and let it pick you up:
- Get into some of those books you got in step 2.
- Join a class with the Jewish Learning Institute or any of the other classes offered at your local Chabad House.
- Get online to a Torah learning website, like www.chabad.org.
- Click here to begin a dialogue with a scholar.
- Study one-on-one with a scholar at JNet.
- Walk into a local Chabad-Lubavitch learning place and grab someone to learn with.
- Sign up for a retreat with Beit Chana or the National Jewish Retreat.
Torah can refer to just the Five Books of Moses, but the term is also used to refer to the entire body of Jewish wisdom. Torah literally means “instructions.” It also means “light.” Torah is meant to shine a light on life and show you which way to go. Whatever you learn, you can always find a practical application and make it happen.
Learning Torah isn’t like any other study. Other studies are means to gain knowledge, while learning Torah is an end in itself. It’s the experience of asking questions, searching for answers, getting in synch with the minds of the sages—the experience of making contact with a Divine Intellect.
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