“כִּי אִם בְּתוֹרַת יְהֹוָה חֶפְצוֹ וּבְתוֹרָתוֹ יֶהְגֶּה יוֹמָם וָלָיְלָה”
“But his desire is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.”
Individualism is an important key for the prosperity of the world. Indeed, how can you improve the world while being worthless. If the world is some sort of structure G-d is building, then the stronger we make ourselves, the stronger the bricks are – the stronger the structure will be.
“…and in His law he meditates day and night”
In Hebrew, there is a double meaning to the word “His”. In the current verse, It is usually refers to the Lord, but can also be referred to the person that desires and studies the Torah.
Wait, let us start from the beginning…
Well then, the Psalmist teaches us, there are three parts in studying and obtaining the Torah:
First, you desire the law of the Lord. Since free will is one of the Jewish bible’s fundamentals, a person must have an inner desire to understand the Bible and it’s ways. Not out of constraints, sure not forced to it.
Second, understanding the Torah is the absolute and supreme truth.
Unlike other subjects, that the logic can change from time to time (not so long ago most of the world thought the world is flat),
or from place to place (you might think reading this post is a basic possibility for everyone, no matter where they live. Well, few days I ago I met a person who spoke to me about his desire to build a school in Sudan. “Will you let internet in, so the students be able to learn things about the world?” I asked. He laughed. “Where is the list of the girls students? I see here only the boys?”, it took only few seconds for him to realize I was talking about education also for girls..then he left..),
and so, of course from one culture to another.
The Torah, sent to us by the creator of the world, is not a matter for changes. It is an absolute supreme truth.
Approaching with the right attitude of (1) inner desire and (2) total acceptance of the absolute truth of the Torah, brings us to the third part, where one can acquire the Torah in an individual way, seek his own path in it, Then, when one’s self can actually be part of the Torah while he studies it.
Question: Is this true for anyone or just for Jews?
Answer: The Torah belongs to the Jews, as it was given to them on Mount Sinai, so the question is a good one.
Nevertheless, we see there are 7 Noahide commandments for Non-Jews, Ethics and Morals everyone must follow. In simple words, no one can avoid learning from the Bible how should he live his life.
[Notice: These summaries are taken from classes during the week about Judaism. Therefore, some of the issues that were brought up are just mentioned and will be discussed more lengthily on other chapters]