15.9.11

angels in their mouths


"HaShem doesn't dwell in conflict with his creations." (Tikkunei Zohar pg. 60a)

That's what the Zohar has to say about a Jew's obligation to learn Torah night and day. It may seem impossible to spend one's whole day and night learning Torah, but the Zohar explains, one who says the Shema Yisrael in the evening and in the morning is considered to have fulfilled this mitzwah.

Though people might think otherwise, a basic tenet of Judaism is that God isn't out to get us. He's not trying to trip us up and He's not waiting to mock us when we fail. More importantly He doesn't command us to do things  that are beyond our ability to do.

Chazal (Our Rabbis) make this point clear when they recite the passuk: "And you shall live with/through them." Meaning, "fulfilling the mitzwah obligations should not make life impossible."

No matter how crazy-sounding a mitzwah may be, do a double take, think about it. Look for the hidden brilliance that it is buried somewhere in there. Don't walk away taking something at face value. You have to dig in or else you miss out on what is really there. Especially when it seems like there's no room for confusion.

A great example of this is: "An eye for an eye." If you stop there, you couldn't be further from the truth. Slavery. Sexism. Cruelty to animals. Genocide. Racism. If you look in the Torah and see these things, it's because you never cared to actually perform the related mitzwoth. If you had, you'd know how wrong those initial assumptions are.

God's demands of us are always reasonable, and always enlightened. And you can be enlightened too, but first you have to choose to be.

This is why we received the Torah, because when it was offered we said, first we will keep the mitzwoth, and only then we will seek to understand them -- Na'aseh v'Nishma.

Tikkunei Zohar pg. 64b:
And all the nation saw the voices. These were angels, each of whom became voices and took flight, and each one of Bnei Yisrael, as they said "We will do and we will listen" the angels would land in their mouth and would teach them the entire Torah.

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