{"id":32598,"date":"2016-10-21T15:51:51","date_gmt":"2016-10-21T21:51:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=32598"},"modified":"2016-10-21T15:52:42","modified_gmt":"2016-10-21T21:52:42","slug":"the-power-of-torah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/the-power-of-torah\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power of Torah"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By TED ROBERTS, the <em>SCRIBBLER ON THE ROOF<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">On Simchat Torah, lovers of Torah never fail to tell the old <em>Midrash<\/em> of Rebbe Avram and his beautiful Torah.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_32599\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Berk_Torah.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32599\" class=\"wp-image-32599 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Berk_Torah-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Berk_Torah\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Berk_Torah-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Berk_Torah-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/225;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32599\" class=\"wp-image-32599 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Berk_Torah-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Berk_Torah\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Berk_Torah-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Berk_Torah-1024x768.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-32599\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Touro Synagogue Rabbi Alexis Berk points out the location of the Ten Commandments in Exodus. Simchat Torah begins on Sunday night for the Reform community and on Monday night for observant Jews. (Photo by Alan Smason)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\">The Rabbi lived by himself in a one-room, wood frame structure that held a table for studying, a bed for sleeping, and a stove for cooking.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cWhat else do I need?\u201d he asked his friends and student.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">One night the rabbi looked up to see the door swing open. A menacing figure stood in the doorway; a robber armed with a knife that flashed in the candlelight as he waved it to and fro.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cYour money. Quick. Your money, old geezer, before my knife takes your few remaining years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Amazing, the rabbi thought. \u00a0&#8220;I am unafraid.\u00a0\u00a0What evil can befall a man as he studies the words of Moses?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cI have no money, no gold, no coins.\u00a0\u00a0In fact, no possessions except the bare furniture of this room.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cLiar, there must be something of value here,&#8221; came the response.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cOh there is,\u201d said the Rabbi.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cFar exceeding rubles.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cGet it,\u201d said the man with the sword.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cBut it\u2019s already there right in front of you.\u00a0\u00a0I didn\u2019t mention it as a possession since it is not exclusively mine and it cannot be exclusively yours. The Torah is a part of the creator\u2019s world like hills and rivers. Like love and truth. Owned by all and none.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">In front of Reb Avram, on a bare table, sat the object of his admiration. A <em>Chumash<\/em>. And what a Chumash it was. Bound in a garnet red velvet, its pages were edged in gold. It stole all the light from the dim room and caught it in red and gold fire on the gray table.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The robber scooped it up and turned to leave. But an unexpected shout from the Rabbi stopped him at the door. \u201cWait,\u201d said the victim. \u201cBeware, the Chumash has power. The book under your arm has both uplifted and destroyed nations and individuals. This is power and it always will be, forever and ever.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The robber laughed. \u201cTHIS is power and it always will be forever and ever, old man,\u201d he said as he swung his sword within a whisker of the old man\u2019s head. And he was gone with his loot to the village where he lived with a wife\u00a0\u00a0and small daughter.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">For several weeks he tried to swap or sell his prize, but the typical buyers had no interest in books of any kind.\u00a0\u00a0And the Jews he contacted had qualms about a \u201chot\u201d Chumash. Even Labe, the butcher, who once bought and resold a case of stolen <em>tallithim<\/em>, wouldn\u2019t touch this deal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">For years the Chumash laid on the table with a jumble of stolen goods that were never exchanged for rubles. Many a violent plot was conceived in that room. Drunken brawls and licentious acts were commonplace.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">But the brigand\u2019s eight-year-old daughter, Elsie, also noticed the big book in the corner.\u00a0\u00a0It was open at a picture of Jacob, with Dinah at his side, blessing his sons. She loved the parade of strange characters pictured in the book, and the camels, donkeys, and palm trees so alien to the flat lands of Poland. They set her mind on fire. To open it was to enter another world.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">One day, around the time of her tenth birthday, this daughter began to tell her simple and good mother of the book in the corner. She told her the stories. And she told her the rules imposed on humanity by the Creator. The mother, a kind but ignorant woman\u00a0\u00a0who dutifully served her husband, slowly awoke to the nature of his rude and violent life. She, too, opened the book.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Often the thief saw his daughter engrossed in the red velvet book.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u201cGood,\u201d he said, \u201cread and read some more.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0It must be said that the thief loved his daughter. Such things are possible. Saul, the bloodthirsty soldier with rage in his heart towards David, loved his Jonathan. Even the slavemaster Pharaoh, it is written, loved his son. And it is well known that the human heart has sections like an orange.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The brigand talked to his daughter as though she were his son.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWe are not put here to live in a hut and eat fish and dark bread. Power is our ladder to climb out of this pit.\u00a0\u00a0I use what I have &#8211; strength and rage. This is power,\u201d he shouted as he waved his sword. \u201cAnd it always shall be.\u00a0\u00a0But you are only a woman. So read the red book.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Meanwhile, his fortune grew and it attracted many followers. His small band grew to an army of criminal rabble that controlled the countryside. Many rubles filled the treasure of the bandit chief. And he rode upon pure blooded steeds and wore silken clothing.\u00a0\u00a0But his life was barren because his good wife and daughter had fled, taking with them the book with the red velvet cover.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u00a0They left a note.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThis is power and it always will be forever and ever.\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"The%20Power%20of%20Torah\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":32599,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[8790,8795,8788,2635],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32598"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32598"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32601,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32598\/revisions\/32601"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}