Pemikiran Yahudi Mazmur 119:18: Akeidat Yitzchak, Olat Reiyah, Duties & Yesod Mora VeSod HaTorah

The Zohar in Parshat Beha-alotcha, quotes Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, "Woe to the person who says that the Torah is just telling us stories, matters of mundane significance only etc."

Sunlight is a gift bestowed on everyone, yet, unless one is equipped to receive it through normal channels, one may not benefit from it. Anyone whose eyes are defective, may fail to benefit from the rays of the sun and remain blind. Torah, i.e. spiritual light, is provided for man, but it too requires channels that are primed to receive it, understand it and make use of it. Ner mitzvah, the commandment being a lamp, refers to the local illumination achieved through performance of an individual mitzvah, whereas Torah or, the Torah is Light itself, refers to the spiritual illumination provided by Torah in its entirety, since it has the ability to bathe the whole human personality in its spiritual light. Priming one's antenna, however is necessary, else the impact of all that spiritual light goes to waste. When we are told that the unborn infant is exposed to the total teachings of Torah, only to forget same the moment he is born, this means that while as yet unborn, man's potential is unimpeded by negative influences, and he can absorb all the spiritual light offered. Entry into our world however, poses a formidable screen, nullifying at least temporarily the lessons previously absorbed. Only application by man can restore the former ease for receiving Divinely inspired teachings. The infant is sworn to become a tzaddik and not a rasha. Whatever is acquired by man's intellect, is no more than the recollection of what he had learned while still in the womb of his mother. When one tells a wealthy man that he is rich, this does not prevent him from trying to amass still greater wealth. Similarly, when a person is told that he is a tzaddik, righteous person, he must continue to view himself as being almost a rasha, and keep up his efforts to become even more perfect spiritually. Our sages advise that one should strive for refinement of one's character traits with the same energy that one applies to the effort to acquire transient values. The soul has five characteristics that liken it to the Almighty. (Berachot 10) David praised G'd in respect of these five characteristics of the soul in Psalms 103 and 104. 1) G'd sees without being seen; similarly, the soul sees without being seen. 2) Just as G'd fills the universe, so the soul fills the body. 3) Just as G'd feeds the universe, so the soul feeds the body it inhabits. 4) Just as G'd is pure, so the soul is pure. 5) Just as G'd resides in the innermost chamber, so does the soul. May he who possesses the above five characteristics come and bless Him who possesses these five characteristics. We are commanded in Deut. 4,15, "take good care of yourselves, for you have seen no manner of form on the day the Lord spoke with you at Chorev out of the fire." This means that we are to kindle His light, the invisible one, to perfect it, so that G'd in turn who holds our life in His hands (your light) will preserve it. Concerning the soul sustaining the body, compare Psalms 146,4, "when his spirit departs, he returns to his soil." G'd is called the chay olamim, the "eternally living," in the words of Maimonides, since He is to the world what the soul is to the body. The essential difference between Jewish philosophy and that of other religions is that we believe that the soul starts out by being pure, and needs to be kept that way by means of observing G'ds commandments. This is facilitated by reverence for G'd, belief in His existence, His power etc. Other religions believe that man is equipped with a tainted soul, (due to the sin of original man) and has to be cleansed and purified. The order of the ten commandments supports the view of Solomon in Kohelet 12,13, "fear the Lord, and observe His commandments." First there has to be a fundamental reverence for the Lord, only afterwards can the observance of His commandments become meaningful. For that reason, the decalogue starts with the statements "I am the Lord your G'd," and "you must not have any other deities."

The stories told in the Torah, while true, do not constitute the entire teaching their text is meant to convey. One needs to be endowed with an understanding heart in order to penetrate via the story to the more profound teachings the Torah conveys by means of it. The Jewish people have been so endowed, as is pointed out by the Midrash above, from which we have quoted only a brief excerpt. We are thus able to unravel the hidden meanings which lie beyond the superficial aspects relayed in the story. The story of the garden of Eden is a case in point. One must not make the mistake of relegating the vehicle, i.e. the story, to insignificance just because it has been the carrier of more profound insights. Just as he who has intimate knowledge of the body does not deny or ignore the clothing the body is wrapped in, so the student of Torah must not ignore the plain meaning of the story. This is so regardless of the fact that the immediate interest in the story has long since been exhausted. Moses warns the people (Deut. 32,46) not to think that the Torah is only a garment for deeper truths. "Take to heart all the words with which I have warned you this day. Enjoin them upon your children that they may observe faithfully all the terms of this teaching...for it is not a vain thing." The essential difference between all other writings and Torah is that the other writings are either to be taken at face value or are only to be judged by the message hidden in the text; the text itself becoming insignificant. Not so Torah. Both the text and what is hinted at are relevant. Although in ancient times, as per statements recorded in the Talmud (Chagigah 11), matters such as the story of creation were taught only on an individual basis from teacher to pupil, our situation has long since deteriorated to the point that many Torah sages, in accordance with the principle "When it is time to act on G-d’s behalf, fracture your Torah" (Psalms 119,26), have seen fit to write at length about these subjects. We therefore feel justified in adding our own comments about this subject.