Jewish Prayer: Part VII

The Liturgy Associated with Taking Out and Returning the Tora

during the Synagogue Service

Rabbi Jack Bieler

Kol Mevaser, Spring 5768

The determination of when during the weekly prayer services the Tora is read, is believed to be of ancient origin. While the Talmud in Bava Kamma 82a lists public Tora- readings as among the ten pieces of legislation instituted by Ezra upon the Jews’ return from the Babylonian Exile, the Rabbis also inform us that Ezra was in fact only modifying a much earlier practice that Moshe himself had initiated. As a basis for this contention, the Talmud cites the verse in Shemot 15:22, “And they went three days in the desert and did not find water”, which is shortly followed (v. 24) by the Jews complaining to Moshe about how distasteful the water was that they did finally find at the place aptly named Mara (bitterness). Reading these verses homiletically and positing that “water” serves as a metaphor for Tora,[1] the Rabbis contend that Moshe decided that in order to hopefully alleviate future spiritual problems that underlay the sort of complaints listed in Shemot 15, the Jewish people should not be permitted to go three days without their figurative “life-giving water”, i.e., hearing the Tora read publicly. Consequently, in addition to the primary Tora-reading taking place on Shabbat, there would also be readings on Monday and Thursday of each week in order to attempt to assure that even at times when there was no Rosh Chodesh or Yom Tov, three days would not pass without some form of Tora-reading in the presence of the congregation which has gathered together for a prayer service.[2]

The assumption that the Tora-reading portion of the Shacharit[3] and Mincha[4] services[5] will summon up associations with the Jews’ Biblical desert wanderings is reinforced by the introductory and concluding liturgical passages that “bookend” the Tora’s being removed from and subsequently returned to the Ark. The Ark is opened with the recitation/chanting[6] of BaMidbar 10:35,

“When the Ark would travel (during the journeys in the desert) Moshe would say, ‘Arise HaShem, and let Your foes be scattered, let those who hate You flee from You,”

with the very next verse (v. 36) serving as the beginning of the series of verses that mark the Tora’s restoration to the Ark at the conclusion of its having been ritually read:

“And when it (the Ark) rested, he (Moshe) would say, ‘Return HaShem to the myriad thousands of Israel.’”

Taking the Tora out of its normal repository, walking it around the sanctuary and finally placing it upon the Shulchan (the reading table) certainly could summon up images of the Tora “travelling”, were we to allow our imaginations to range freely. However, it is less readily apparent why the carrying of the Tora, or for that matter even the travels of the Ark in the desert, should evoke thoughts of battles pitched against God’s opponents and detractors. R. Baruch HaLevi Epstein suggests[7] that at least within the context of the desert travels, since the Jewish people who were accompanying the Ark and the rest of the accoutrements of the Tabernacle, were embarking on a journey in the desert, a patently unsafe environment,[8] Moshe’s words constituted a prayer that they have a safe journey, free of interference and hostile attacks, in effect a type of Tefillat HaDerech (prayer for the road).[9] But R. Epstein’s explanation only serves to beg the question regarding how such a sentiment applies to the removal of the Tora from the Ark within the relatively safe confines of a synagogue or Beit Midrash.[10] Perhaps, in order to answer this question, we are forced to conclude that the opening verse from BaMidbar cannot be viewed independently from the futuristic verse in our liturgy that immediately follows, Yeshayahu 2:3,

“For out of Zion will go forth the Tora, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”

Even if at the outset, and continuing on through the present day, there were and still remain many who oppose not only Judaism and Jewish law, but the Jewish conception of God and man’s relationship to Him, and as a result endanger Jews with whom such ideas are associated, juxtaposing Yeshayahu with BaMidbar demonstrates that we resolutely believe that this situation will eventually change for the better, and a time will come when not only enmity will cease, but that our traditions and basic assumptions about human nature will be universally embraced and inspire emulation beyond our own people and country. However, since such an evolutionary transformation cannot take place without a broad and vigorous commitment of the Jewish people to Tora and Mitzvot, the only manner in which we can position ourselves to fulfill the mandate to serve as “a light unto the nations”,[11] public Tora-reading represents the importance of exposure of as many as possible to our holy sources. The public Tora-reading appears to be not so much an occasion for Tora study—the listeners are neither always prepared or understanding of what is being read before them—as a symbolic statement of how we ought to view the Tora as central to our lives and weltanschauungs. Such a sentiment appears to be the point of the conclusion of the Brich Shemai (Blessed is the Name) paragraph that is recited when the Tora is first removed from the Ark:

May it be Your Will that You Open my heart to the Tora and that You Fulfill the wishes of my heart and the hearts of Your entire People Israel for good, for life and for peace.

We essentially are asking that the Tora inform our wishes, and that these Tora-inspired wishes in turn be fulfilled to advance not only our standing, but the standing of HaShem and His Tora in the world, culminating in the Messianic Period.

The first few verses in the paragraph recited upon the return of the Tora to the Ark clearly supports the aforementioned understanding of the verses invoked when the Tora was first removed:

And when it (the Ark) rested, he (Moshe) would say, ‘Return HaShem to the myriad thousands of Israel.’[12]

(A reference to a future point when God will Redeem us, Restore us to the land of Israel and Jerusalem, Assume a close relationship with us.)

Arise HaShem to Your resting place (the Temple[13]), You and the Ark of Your Strength. Let Your Priests be clothed in righteousness, and Your devout ones will sing joyously.

(The Kohanim and Levi’im will be restored to the Temple service).

For the sake of David, your servant, Do not Turn away the face of Your Anointed.

(A reference to the Moshiach)[14]

However, the verses comprising the second half of this concluding prayer appear to return our attention to the intermediate period, which per force must precede the eventual redemption and the dissemination of Tora from Jerusalem of which we originally dreamt:

For I have Given you a good teaching, do not forsake My Tora.[15]

(The redemption is dependent upon the Jewish people modeling the tenets of Judaism as articulated in the Tora.)

It is a tree of life for those who take hold of it, and its supporters are happy.[16]

(Even if the Jews can only be motivated by ulterior motives rather than idealistic anticipation of the eschatological era, we should recognize that our lives are made so much better by adhering to the Tora’s teachings.)

Its ways are ways of pleasantness and all of its paths are peace.[17]

(The quality of our lives, individually as well as collectively, would be significantly enhanced, if we would only live Tora lives.)

Bring us back to You, HaShem, and we shall return, Renew our days as in the past.[18]

(This concluding verse suggests, almost out of a sense of desperation, that in the event that we are unable to motivate ourselves to do the right thing, perhaps we are in need of some Divine Intervention that would smooth the way to regaining the lifestyle and status that we once enjoyed.)

The verses with which we conclude each Tora-reading service reflect the need for each of us to realize that our own personal learning and level of observance contributes significantly to the realization of the hopes and dreams of a spiritual Jewish future described in the prophecies of the Bible. Let us not only sweetly chant these verses on Shabbat and Yom Tov mornings, but also turn them and the predictions that depend upon them into realities.

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[1] See also e.g., Bava Kamma 17a; Beraishit Rabba 84:16; Eliyahu Rabba 2.

[2] We cannot help noting that even if we assume that Moshe instituted Tora reading early on during the Jews’ travels in the desert, this did not prevent numerous additional complaints on their part, culminating in their acceptance of the negative report of the spies, which in turn led to the Divine Decree that most of the generation of the desert would die before ever reaching Canaan. On the one hand, it could be contended that Tora reading prevented the complaints from being even more numerous and vociferous. But then again perhaps the generation of the Exodus was too inured into its slave mentality for the Tora reading to have a constructive affect, and it was only the following generation that did reach Canaan for whom this institution proved to be spiritually beneficial.

[3] Morning Tora readings take place on Shabbat, Monday, Thursday, Rosh Chodesh, Yomim Tovim, Rosh HaShana, Yom HaKippurim, and fast days.

[4] Afternoon Tora readings occur on Shabbat, Yom HaKippurim and fast days.

[5] There is also a Tora reading in some synagogues as part of Maariv on the night of Simchat Tora.

[6] How much time the congregation has allotted to prayer will determine how much of the service is chanted as opposed to simply recited. There is usually more chanting on Shabbat and Yom Tov, as opposed to weekday services; yet at a Hashkama Minyan which is generally under time constraints, this might not be the case.

[7] Baruch SheAmar—Peirush Al Tefilot HaShana, Am Olam, Tel Aviv, 1968, p. 175.

[8] According to Berachot 54b, those travelling in the desert are one of four categories of individuals (the others are individuals recovering from illness, freed from imprisonment and seafarers) who are required to recite Birkat HaGomel (the blessing acknowledging God’s Intervention in our personal affairs), reflecting how such activity is viewed as frought with peril.

[9] See e.g., The Complete ArtScroll Siddur, p. 222:

…May You Rescue us from the hand of every foe, ambush, bandits and evil animals along the way…

[10] Naturally Jews who lived/live in places of ongoing anti-Semitism and persecution are less than sanguine about their safety even when gathering together inside their houses of worship. And it is possible that even those who experience relative safety should empathize with their brethren who live in dangerous times and places. Nevertheless, this would be a particularly dark perspective for us to be required to assume each time we remove the Tora from the Ark. The association of the regular public Tora reading exclusively with threats from without, while logical and unfortunately historically realistic, would not appear to be optimal.

[11] Yeshayahu 42:6; 49:6.

[12] BaMidbar 10:36.

[13] See Devarim 12:9 and associated commentaries.

[14] Tehillim 132:8-10.

[15] Mishlei 4:2.

[16] Ibid. 3:18.

[17] Ibid. 3:17.

[18] Eicha 5:21.