Do you take the time to study the Parshah (Torah portion) of the week? The Torah portion assigned for a given time period? The last Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneurson (1902-1994), recommends living with the times. We are living through a global pandemic coupled with numerous natural disasters. While scientists struggle to come up with workable solutions, there is a question that begs to be asked. Is there perhaps something else that we can and perhaps should be doing?
What did the Rebbe mean? How does that connect to the Parshah?
What was the Rebbe referring to when recommending that we live with the time? How does that connect with living through a pandemic?
If we look back at world history, we find many pandemics have taken place. They seem to crop up around 100 years apart. Aside from vaccinations and masks, what else do we know about pandemics?
The truth is, there is another place to look. From the second night of Pesach (Passover), we begin the counting of the Omer. From the start of counting the Omer until Lag B’ Omer (the anniversary of the death of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai and the date when the 24 000 students of Rabbi Akiva (15-135 CE) stopped dying) for some and until Shavuot for others, we also have a number of laws to fulfill. This is a time of mourning. Mourning for the 24000 students of Rabbi Akiva who died in a plague. As I mentioned in a video some months ago, that is a huge number to die in a plague.
At the time of writing this post, the statistics in Israel is 8062 deaths from the start of the Covid 19 pandemic. That is approximately a third of the number of Rabbi Akiva’s students who died at the time of Rabbi Akiva. This helps to put into perspective what it is we are mourning for. Firstly, 24 000 is a large number to die in one time. Aside from the number to die from one plague, that is a huge number of students for one teacher to have. Just that thought on it’s own increases my respect and appreciation for Rabbi Akiva, what do you think?
Where in the Parshah can we find a solution?
So what can we do to help the current situation?
If we pay attention to the prayers from the Chagim (Jewish festivals), there is mention of Hashem (G-d) protecting us from plagues or pandemics. Logically then, a plague comes from Hashem, mostly because He is not happy with something happening in the generation at the time. How do we know what Hashem is upset about? The best place to begin is with learning Torah.
That’s nice, you might say. As someone asked recently in a social network group, “how do you know where to begin?” I would say that the best place to start is by getting to know the words and stories of the Chumash (Bible) itself. Actually, I would add to study the Tanach (the five books of Moses, prophets and writings) in full, but let’s focus for now on the Chumash, the five books that Moses our teacher received at Mount Sinai.
Learning the weekly Torah portion is what the Lubavitcher Rebbe meant by living with the time. He advocates keeping up with each section of Torah to be learned every day.
The daily reading of the Torah is too long, I am overwhelmed
While some would like the Parshah presented in a nutshell, rather like the convert who asked Hillel to teach him the whole Torah while standing on one leg, I would advocate another approach. You see if we think of the word nutshell, in English the word nutshell symbolizes a condensed version of something. A condensed version of a given topic. However, let’s switch to considering the Hebrew for the word nutshell. Any shell or peel in Hebrew is Klipa. Klipa is also the word used to refer to the negative forces or to darkness.
Since we are living in a time of darkness, of tremendous judgment in the world, we need to get away from the darkness and increase the light. We need to take the Torah out of the darkness by studying the Holy words and allowing the increase of light to bring the healing that is necessary in the world. To a large extent you can regard learning Torah as a home remedy. It’s something you can do at home. Learning Torah helps you to find meaning in life and to find out what G-d the Creator of all wants from us at any given moment.
There is a solution to ease you in to reading the section of the Torah assigned to any given day. A slight variation on the idea of Torah in a nutshell. A concept that is hard to consider for many reasons.
I am new to Torah, were do I begin?
So what can we do for a simple way to begin learning Torah? Instead of looking for Parshah in a nutshell, let us read summaries of the weekly Parshah. This enables us to become familiar with the concepts and stories that are most important to the simple, basic level of reading the Torah. What this does is to help us to become familiar with the material, to whet our appetite and help us to have a solid foundation in our path towards diving deeper into the waters of Torah.
How can we do this? My husband has provided a few solutions. Firstly he very kindly took the time to prepare summaries of the Parshah of the week, covering every Aliyah. That means that there are seven sections to each weekly Parshah. The summaries of the weekly Parshiot have been collated, edited and formatted into a 6 x 9 inch size book. The summaries are written in English, making it easy for anyone who is not yet familiar with the original Hebrew to understand.
I don’t know where to find the time to study Torah
Due to it’s size, the book is very easy to take around with you if you wish to read the summaries in Shul (Synagogue) or to learn on the bus or train for those who are traveling. It also fits easily on a bedside table if you want to have it available to read first thing in the morning, after your blessings on the Torah. I’d like to recommend to read it when going to sleep too, but there are specific times for learning the Chumash.
If you would like to learn more about the Chumash, when we can and can not learn it, you can go beyond the summaries. We offer the opportunity to sign up to learn with Rabbi Shear in person from the comfort of your own home. The advances of technology make learning Torah so much more available.
Does anyone else recommend this book?
So what do others think of the book “Parshah in Just Two Minutes” by Eliyahu Shear?
“I love this book and page thru it regularly. Eliyahu Shear has managed to give a very concise summary of the Torah reading each week. Interspersed between the weekly reading are focused and inspiring Torah thoughts. This is an ideal book for a busy person who wants to brush up on their Torah narrative and to get some spiritual elevation.” ~ Evan Wolpert
Book Review posted on Amazon
What do you say, how about purchasing your copy today? Remember, if you enjoy reading the book, do leave a review so that others can find the book too. In the back of the book you can find more about what we do and how to get in touch. We look forward to hearing from you and how you enjoyed reading “Parshah in Just Two Minutes”.