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"The Torah Belongs with Us"

Writer's picture: Elissa FelderElissa Felder

"The Torah Belongs with Us"


“When I went up the mountain to take the stone tablets of the covenant

that God had established with you, 

I sat on the mountain for forty days and forty nights. 

I didn’t eat bread, and I didn’t drink water.’


Moses recounts to the Jewish people his ascension into the heavens

to receive the Torah from God.

Upon arriving in the heavens Moses

encounters the angels who challenge God’s

plan to give the Torah to people.

They argue that the sacred and holy Torah

belongs in the spiritual world and should stay with them.


Moses asks the angels,

“What is written in it?”

“I am HaShem your God who has taken you out of the land of Egypt.”

Moses asks,

“Did you go down to Egypt?

Were you enslaved by Pharaoh?

Why would the Torah be for you?

Further, it says,

” Remember the day of Shabbat to sanctify it.”

Do you do any labor that you would need to rest?

It also says,

“Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal.”

Is there jealousy among you?

Is there an evil inclination among you?


Immediately the angels agreed with God’s decision

to give the Torah to people.

Moses effectively fights the angels to

take the Torah and bring it down into the

lower, material world.

The Torah is most suited for people

who struggle,

who have challenges,

who fail,

who argue,

who fight, and

who grapple with God's ways.


Torah is for fallible, imperfect people who are

striving to grow, to improve,

to be better and to do more.

Torah is mankind’s source for Divine wisdom.

It is our guidebook for how to connect to and

partner with God,

to increase holiness in the darkness of this world.

It directs us to do what is right and it

teaches us how to live meaningful lives.


May we consciously choose to learn from the Torah.

May we find great meaning in following in God's ways.

May we have the strength and clarity to come close to the divine.

May we be grateful to God for giving us the intellect to learn,

the tools to improve ourselves, and

the space to be human.

Wishing everyone a peaceful and spiritual Shabbat

Shabbat shalom

Elissa



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