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Rabbi Benji Levy

From Heaven to Earth

and Back

ne enigmatic passage serves in doing so, to elevate the world into a that before a person is born, we are
as the only biblical source sanctified, heavenly place. taught the entire Torah while still
Ocited directly in the Prayer for in the womb. And at the end of our
the State of Israel: It is fine, in our private lives, to lives, we pass on to another idyllic
retreat from societal influences and spiritual existence – heaven. While
If your dispersed ones shall be to create a holy space in which we our lives are bookended by these two
at the ends of the heavens, from can focus on our own personal spir- blissful realms of elevated holiness,
there the L-rd your G-d will itual journey. However, all too often a few verses after this passage we are
gather you and from there He will people get stuck in this inward focus, reminded that the Torah is ‘not in the
take you. And the L-rd your G-d losing sight of the ultimate goal – our heavens’ (30:12). It is not meant to be
will bring you to the Land that responsibility to bring the world with confined to the study house but must
your forefathers inherited and you us on our path of spiritual growth. be constantly implemented, to shape
shall inherit it... (Devarim 30:4-5) every facet of our day-to-day lives.
Perhaps, therefore, by saying that G-d
Here Moses describes how the Jewish will gather the people from ‘the ends There are those who build a spiritual
people will be redeemed, but why of the heavens,’ the Torah is implying ‘cocoon’ around themselves. They
would G-d gather individuals from that G-d will draw the people back attempt to connect to the untainted
the holiest of all places – the heavens from their solely spiritual pursuits, pre-life (womb) and post-life (World
– to bring them to the Land? and bring them ‘to the Land’, back to to Come) spiritual heights. Between
reality. By specifically mentioning the the womb and the tomb, the Torah
Rav Saadia Gaon interprets this as a Land, the Torah teaches that G-d will
metaphor. The Torah paints a picture indeed bring the people to deal with commands us to find the courage to
rise to the challenges of this world.
of a people who, albeit in exile, will the nitty-gritty practicalities of plant- The miracle of the State of Israel, the
live holy and devout lives, who will ing seeds and working the physical return of our people to its ancestral
‘return unto G-d, listen to everything land. And what better time to remem- home despite the seemingly insur-
He commands’ and serve Him whole- ber this than Yom HaAtzmaut amidst mountable odds, is the ultimate
heartedly (30:2). Throughout our the Coronavirus. example of this. Though we may be
history, Jewish people strove to fulfill susceptible to failure along the way, it
this imperative. They formed insular For the first time in 2,000 years, we is incumbent upon us to embrace the
communities of piety, where study have been afforded the opportunity real world with these values, in other
houses were full and adherence to to build a Jewish homeland. Israel is words, as it says a few verses later
Jewish law was systemic. These were ultimately meant to be built into a to ‘choose life so that you may live!’
times of education and spiritual self- beacon for the world, as an inspira- (30:19)
growth, and the resulting scholarly tion nation. In order to actualize this,
achievements were extraordinary. each one of us needs to recognize our
responsibility of applying our Torah
But, much like one’s time at univer- knowledge to the real world. Each
sity, study is a lofty ideal in and of one of us has a role to play in building
itself, but also a means rather than this great nation, a thread to weave in
an end alone. We acquire knowledge the creation of our national and even
in order to apply it. In the World to international tapestry.
Come, or heaven, Torah study may be Rabbi Benji Levy is CEO of Mosaic
United, a partnership between the State
exclusively viewed as an end, but here This message applies even beyond of Israel and the global Jewish community
it is more, helping us to sanctify the the building of a national homeland. dedicated to mapping the broad spectrum
mundane, to live a life of holiness, and The Talmud (Niddah 30b) teaches of Jewish experiential opportunities.

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