Everyday Torah

"Ben Bag-Bag said: 'Turn it [the Torah] every which way; everything is in it. Pore over it; grow old and gray over it.
Do not budge from it. You can have no better guide for living than it.'"
--Ethics of the Fathers 5:24

I can think of no more beautiful articulation of why we study the Torah than Ben Bag-Bag's (this may also be influenced by my love of his fabulous name). Ben Bag-Bag was a second century Talmud scholar and most likely a disciple of Hillel. Little is known about him but there are traditions that say that Rabbi Bag-Bag was a convert. If true, it gives an additional layer of meaning to his insight about Torah study. Sometimes, when we grow up with something and it is so close to us, we cannot always assess its objective value and benefits. Ben Bag-Bag spells those out for us when it comes to Jewish learning.

In Hebrew, the verb that Ben Bag-Bag uses is active; it's akin to saying "Turn something inside out and upside down." In other words, move the Torah in any direction, and it will yield something special for you. On one level this is a statement about the universality of the Torah. It offers us something no matter how old we are, what life stage we're in, or what intellectual or spiritual questions we have. On the other hand, it's a comprehensive document that manages to speak to us from the moment we rise until we fall asleep. No matter where we are, we can be touched by its teachings and frame our decisions through its words.

In A Book of Life, Rabbi Michael Strassfeld talks about Torah study as "an intellectual endeavor with a spiritual purpose." His understanding of Ben Bag-Bag is that in looking at many different perspectives, we can find one that "opens the 'allness' of Torah" for us while appreciating that there are multiple truths contained in the Torah, not one simple truth.

As the statement unravels, we add additional elements to the Torah's reach. It's a wonderful life advisor and one that demands loyalty. But it also changes with us. It has the flexibility and elasticity to grow in depth and meaning; it ages with us. There are very few "commodities" in our lives that have this capacity. There are friends that grow and age with us, but we may lose some along the way. We have hobbies and interests that engage us, but sometimes their appeal wanes over time. There are professional commitments that mean something to us at one stage and less at another. The Torah, however, has staying power. It grays with us. "Grow old and gray over it" always reminds me of William Butler Yeats' tender poem, "When You are Old."

When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;
How many loved your moments of glad grace,
And loved your beauty with love false or true,
But one man loved the pilgrim Soul in you,
And loved the sorrows of your changing face;

The changing face is loved by one person whose love matures through time. In our love of a book, we, too, see its "shadows deep" in the way that it influences our values, decisions and traditions.

This Sunday, March 7, the Partnership for Jewish Life and Learning is sponsoring Routes at the Washington Convention Center. Routes is an all-day intensive Jewish learning program for adults. Text study, Middle East politics, Jewish art and culture, Kabbalah, Jewish yoga - turn it inside out and upside down; it's all there. Every hour there's a choice of 10 sessions, repeated opportunities to see the wealth and depth of our tradition. Go here for more information.

But true Torah study is not about a day of choices; it's a choice to make Jewish learning a daily part of our lives. Ben Bag-Bag shared his insight almost two millennia ago but his words resound so powerfully still. These texts do grow old with us; they befriend us, and they serve as a steady anchor in an ever-changing world.

Shabbat Shalom

By Erica Brown  |  March 4, 2010; 11:47 AM ET Save & Share:                 
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