Because a world without Torah cannot exist. Cannot work. A world without Torah is a world that self-destructs. As long as there is someone, somewhere, studying Torah, the world will continue to exist. If it ever stopped, the world would cease to exist. -From the Today In Israel blog
Writing a Torah is no small thing. We should remember that it took only seven days to create the world but 40 to write the Torah. There are many Midrash that suggest the world came into being for the sake of Torah. And that were we not to have accepted the Torah at Sinai, the world would have ceased to exist. In writing a Torah we affirm our willingness to receive its wisdom.
-by Rabbi Elliott Tepperman
for BnaiKeshet.org
When I was writing the article The Powerful Word for my congregation’s blog, I kept trying to include the traditional Jewish perspective on the relationship of the universe and the Torah, but for some reason, the resources eluded me. It wasn’t until the day after I posted the article on the blog that suddenly, all of the references I needed fell into place. Perhaps this was meant to be a separate but companion piece to the first write up, rather than one, integrated commentary.
In Messianic circles, we often refer to Yeshua (Jesus) as our Living Torah. This is as much because of what we read in John 1 about “…the Word (Torah) became a man and dwelt among us…” as due to Yeshua being the only man to live his human lifestyle in a manner of complete obedience to the Word and intention of God the Father. He literally lived out the Torah before our very eyes, so we could understand that living the Torah is not impossible for the rest of us.
In traditional Judaism, there is no concept of “the Living Torah” as meaning the Messiah. If you do a search, the closest you’ll come is The Living Torah and Nach, which is a specific translation of the Five Books of Moses into English, and Living Torah, which is a weekly video and audio magazine.
I say all this to illustrate the differences between traditional Judaism and Christianity’s (and the Messianic) viewpoint of the Messiah and Torah. This is particularly relevant to the point of my previous article, that Messiah not only was actively involved in the creation of the universe, but is constantly maintaining the existence of all Creation. If not the Messiah, who or what do Jews believe holds the universe together?
R’ Bornstein was a chassid of R’ Mendel of Kotzk, and the two later became in-laws. (R’ Avraham Bornstein married R’ Mendel’s daughter.) R’ Mendel said that the reason the elder R’ Bornstein merited to have a son who enlightened the world (i.e., R’ Avraham) was that on one Purim night, R’ Bornstein was the only person in the world studying Torah at a particular moment. The Sages say that if the world were ever without at least one person studying Torah, it would cease to exist; thus, in his merit alone, the world continued to function. (Gedolei Ha’dorot p. 752)
Hamaayan / The Torah Spring
Edited by Shlomo Katz
Torah.org
In Judaism, the universe exists for the sake of man, but the supposition is that at least one person in the world is studying Torah at any given moment in time. As the Rabbis suggest, if no one is studying Torah, the world will cease to be. Conversely, the entire world and everyone in it, would continue to exist, all for the sake of a single individual studying Torah. It’s not just the existence of Torah, but paying proper attention to the Word of God that makes a difference. From a Jewish point of view, all of Creation is dependent on this.
Outside of considering it the Word of God, we tend to think of Torah or the Bible as an objective “thing”; a book, the printed page, or a scroll. For someone not familiar with Jewish synagogue practices, observing the congregation bowing to the Torah scroll during the processional part of the Torah service seems just a bit like idolatry. After all, shouldn’t we indeed bow to the author of the Torah, and not to the scroll itself?
I mentioned before that traditional Judaism doesn’t see a one-to-one mapping between the Torah and the Messiah, however the spiritual concept of Torah has a unique existence all its own.
Rav Hoshaiah, explicitly identifying the Torah with the preexistent wisdom of Proverbs, said that God created the world by looking into the Torah as an architect builds a palace by looking into blueprints. He also took the first word of Genesis not in the sense of “In the beginning,” but in that of “By means of the beginning,” and he taught that “beginning” (probably in the philosophic sense of the Greek archē) designates Torah, since it is written of wisdom (= Torah), “The Lord made me the beginning of His way” (Prov. 8:22; Gen. R. 1:1). It was also taught that God took council with the Torah before He created the world (Tanḥ. B. 2, et al.). The concept of the preexistence of the Torah is perhaps implicit in the philosophy of Philo, who wrote of the preexistence and role in creation of the Word of God (logos; e.g., Op. 20, 25, 36; Cher. 127) and identified the Word of God with the Torah (Mig. 130; cf. Op. and II Mos.).
The Torah then existed before the creation of the universe and indeed, in some respect, was required for the creation of the universe, both as a cosmic blueprint and as a wise adviser. That sounds at least a little like the following:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. -John 1:1-3
Of course, we have to follow up with this to make the obvious connection:
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. -John 1:14
Judaism has few real dogmas but the pre-existence of the Torah and it originating from Heaven is very strongly held:
It was one of the very few real dogmas of rabbinic theology that the Torah is from heaven (Heb. Torah min hashamayim; Sanh. 10:1, et al.; cf. Ex. 20:22 [19]; Deut. 4:36); i.e., the Torah in its entirety was revealed by God. According to the aggadah, Moses ascended into heaven to capture the Torah from the angels (Shab. 89a, et al.). In one of the oldest mishnaic statements, Simeon the Just taught that (the study of the) Torah is one of the three things by which the world is sustained (Avot 1:2). Eleazar ben Shammua said: “Were it not for the Torah, heaven and earth would not continue to exist” (Pes. 68b; Ned. 32a; cf. Crescas’ interpretation above)…The Torah was often compared to fire, water, wine, oil, milk, honey, drugs, manna, the tree of life, and many other things; it was considered the source of freedom, goodness, and life (e.g., Avot 6:2, 3, 7); it was identified both with wisdom and with love (e.g., Mid. Ps. to 1:18).
It’s also not entirely true that the Torah isn’t personified. We’ve already seen the Torah compared to “wisdom” and “consulted” regarding the creation of the universe. There’s also this:
Often the Torah was personified. Not only did God take council with the Torah before He created the world (see above), but according to one interpretation, the plural in “Let us make man” (Gen. 1:26) refers to God and the Torah (Tanḥ. Pekudei, 3). The Torah appears as the daughter of God and the bride of Israel (PR 20; 95a, et al.). On occasion, the Torah is obliged to plead the case of Israel before God (e.g., Ex. R. 29:4).
It’s interesting that Torah is, in some contexts, considered the “bride of Israel”, when in Torah, Israel is depicted as the bride of God and in the Apostolic Scriptures, the body of believers is the “bride of Christ” (the Living Torah). Also, as stated in the previous quote, Torah is obligated to plead Israel’s case before God, while we consider Yeshua as our intercessor in the Heavenly Court.
Yet, the Torah exists also as both the spiritual and tangible expression of God’s will for Creation, including people.
As the Torah exists in the spiritual realms, it has more than one application. After all, the Torah is not just G-d’s knowledge and wisdom — it is His will and inner desire. How that desire meets this world depends on many things. If, for example, the Jewish people would not have tolerated worship of a golden calf in their midst forty days after having heard the Ten Commandments, there would have been no need for a Tabernacle. Each one of us would have been a perfect temple for the Shechinah (Divine presence) and G-dliness would have dwelt on earth in a much simpler way.
From How Did the Torah Exist Before it Happened?
by Tzvi Freeman
Chabad.org
This sounds so much like:
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple. -1 Corinthians 3:16-17
This also matches up with what we read here:
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. -Hebrews 1:3
While traditional Judaism doesn’t perceive that the Messiah was with God at the Creation as Christians and Messianics do, if we put together the Rabbinic writings and interpretations with our understanding of God’s Word, we can see the linking. God is not playing “hide the ball” with the universe or with the Messiah.
Psalm 19, verses 1-6 describes how the “heavens declare the glory of God” while the remainder of the Psalm says this:
The Torah of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever.
The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults.Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me.
Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression.May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.
-Psalm 19:7-14
The glory of Creation declaring God and the Torah of God being perfect, reviving our souls and forgiving sins. If the Psalm has a single subject and communicates a unified idea, we can see God, Torah, and Messiah all wrapped up together. It’s no mistake that much of this Psalm has been integrated into the Torah service. When we bow to Torah, in reality, we are bowing down to him who we long to return to us; the Living Torah and the author of our lives.