Why study Torah?
When you found out we spend a lot of time time studying the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) at 40 Orchards, you may have wondered:
Why?
You may feel about the Old Testament like many people do—that it’s filled with patriarchy and judgement and violence. You may experience it as a lot of language and names that aren’t relatable. You may wonder if those stories of creation have any basis in reality. Or, you may believe there’s more to be gained from Jesus and the New Testament.
But…what if there’s more there than meets the eye?
What if understanding the Torah, could help us understand Jesus?
And what happens to our experience of a story if we skip the beginning?
At 40 Orchards, we are passionate about hearing the full story, and we do that through the practice of midrash. Midrash is a way of reading Scripture that causes us to listen more deeply to the words of the Text and to one another—so that all the layers of meaning and all the honest questions can be found and held.
There is no better place to learn principles of midrash than in the first five books of the Bible. The ancient rabbis looked at these books as intentionally spacious, with the possibilities held in the blank space between the letters and lines being just as important to think about as the words themselves.
All kinds of questions arise when we use principles of midrash to read the Torah.
What does the language of creation and the Garden of Eden tell us about how God sees us as humans?
How might the process of creation reveal truths about how to walk through any new beginning?
What can we learn about sin by looking at the first time that word is used—in the conflict between Cain and Abel?
What does it mean that Abram was told to leave everything behind in Genesis 12 and walk toward yourself (“lech lecha”)—and what does that mean for us?
How might it affect us to know that the first person in Scripture to encounter and talk with God in the wilderness was Hagar, an oppressed woman of color?
What does it mean to follow in the footsteps of Jacob and become “Israel”, which translates as “one who wrestles with God and is able”?
How does it affect our understanding of God to know that when Moses asked for God’s name, God answered with a verb, not a noun?
How might the stories contained in these books apply to our lives? Might these be narratives of the human experience that were true in the past, and also continue to be true today?
The questions are endless—and real goodness happens when we can honestly wrestle through them in community, hearing the insights and lived experiences of others, and adding our own to the conversation.
The root verb of the word Midrash is daresh, which means to enquire, follow, and seek. Studying Torah allows us to become explorers of questions. It is an invitation to listen for new possibilities, and to welcome the wrestling that comes with those expanded ways of seeing.
Studying Torah can provide a new foundation for those who might be looking to rebuild their faith on something other than certainty and black-and-white thinking.
Join us as, together, we expand each other’s experience of what is sacred, whole, and good.
Our next round of Torah Roots begins on April 20.
We’ll gather once a month on Tuesday evenings from 6:30-8:30 pm. You’ll study with a consistent group of people for 10 sessions, as we dig into 10 core scripture passages from the Old Testament books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
Torah Roots includes curriculum you can use for further study and exploration. Register and find more information here or contact us if you have questions.