Beth HaDerech; Messianic Jewish Congregation, Toronto, Canada

Messianic Jewish Emuna: Our Eternal Torah

The Torah: Never Changing but Always Refreshing. (RAMBAM 13 Principals of Faith - Principal Nine, Lesson Eight Excerpt; Page 269) The Spiritual identity of the Torah appears, at first glance, to present us with two contradictory themes. On the one hand, we are taught that the Torah is static: “This Torah of Moshe will never be revoked and no other Torah will ever be given by G-d.” But there is also a principal that, spiritually speaking, the Torah is given anew every day. Consequently, when we make the blessing on the giving of the Torah we use the present tense, “Blessed are You, O G-d, who gives the Torah,” to stress that Sinai is an ongoing process. Therefore, Torah demands that we always grow in our personal spirituality, so as to keep apace with the constantly expanding spiritual revelations that are occurring. These two elements to the Torah provide us with two different thrusts in our observance of the commandments. But nevertheless, “it must be new in your eyes everyday” (Rashi to Devarim 26:16), our observance should not be dry and static, but inspired and charged with the knowledge that the Torah was just given today anew. (Based on Sichas Shabbos Parshas Shemini 5747, par. 44) This teaching from the RAMBAM 13 Principals of faith regarding the eternal relevance of the Torah gives us a very deep understanding of...