Explaining the Divrei Torah - By: jessies sims

Divrei Torah are discussions about a Parsha or a portion of the first five books of the Bible known as the Torah in Judaism. The five books of the Torah and the Christian Bible names are Bereishith/Genesis, Shemoth/Exodus, Vayiqra/Leviticus, Bamidar/Numbers and Devarim/Deuteronomy. The weekly Parsha is read aloud at a synagogue on the Sabbath. After the service is finished, the rabbi will give a talk based on it. There is often a life lesson that is reinforced by passages from the Torah or other Jewish texts. These discussions are an effective way of relating the ancient texts of Judaism to a person’s everyday experiences in the 21st century.

The Talmud is important for Divrei Torah because it is a record of rabbinic discussions regarding Jewish law, ethics and philosophy. Another Jewish text called the Mishnah, which means “repetition” in Hebrew, is also an important text. This text is the first written version of the ancient Jewish oral traditions called the Oral Torah. Both of these texts provide a wealth of knowledge and wisdom that are used to further people’s understanding of their faith.

Divrei Torah usually last about 10 to 15 minutes depending on the subject matter or the particular rabbi giving the talk. If the talks deal with a particularly serious topic or are related to special occasions, they can last for several hours. The proliferation of the Internet since the middle of the 1990’s means the talks can take place not only in a synagogue, but also on the World Wide Web. There are a number of websites devoted to Divrei to help people with their study of the Torah.

Some people have created blogs where they post their own Divrei Torah and invite comments and questions from readers. An example of one of these blogs is http://returntoG-d.blogspot. This blog contains regular posts that deal with the Torah portions in an attempt educate people about the laws and traditions of Judaism. The topics help people to connect their daily lives with what they find in the Torah. One talk could be about the importance of not gossiping about friends and relatives. This is a common practice that almost everyone has been guilty of. A talk supported by Biblical passages would explain why it is a behavior that is inappropriate and should be avoided.

At torah.org, rabbis publish a weekly discussion of the Torah for believers to read and consider. For example, there is a discussion on this site regarding the portion called Vayechi with the title “Blessings are not Always in Disguise.” It explains that people should be mindful of what they have in their lives and that they should be thankful. The rabbi explains that many of your blessings are not things you have to search for, because they are right in front of you. The Divrei Torah continues to be an important part of Judaism, because they serve to reinforce the Torah portions so they continue to be vital documents that speak to the modern world as forcefully as they did to the ancient Hebrews.

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