This sheet on Deuteronomy 27 was written by Tali Adler for 929 and can also be found here
We encounter two types of Torah in Deuteronomy.
The first is the Torah of the Ark, the Torah Moses finishes writing at the very end of his life, handing it to the Levites to be carried in the ark along with the tablets Moses brought back from Sinai. This Torah is to be cradled; to be guarded. It is to be guarded by priests who convey its contents to the people. This is a Torah to that is treasured, but also a Torah that remains alone, far from the people to whom it was given.
The second, though, is the Torah of the stones. This Torah is different: it has no container. Its purpose is to be read, and to that end, it must be written clearly. Whereas the other Torah remains in the center of the Temple, surrounded by the scent of sacrifices and by songs of service, this Torah remains on the edge of the land; exposed to rain and wind and the eyes of anyone who cares to read it. This Torah is a Torah of the people, but it is also a Torah unprotected, a Torah that can not just be read, but misread, tarnished, and disrespected.
We still haven’t decided what form we want our Torah to take: we still don’t know whether our feelings of reverence are stronger than our feelings of pride, whether our desire to protect Torah is stronger than our need to spread it. The ark is lost and the stones have been reduced to dust, and still, we haven’t decided how to shape the Torah, where to place it, or how to love it.
The first is the Torah of the Ark, the Torah Moses finishes writing at the very end of his life, handing it to the Levites to be carried in the ark along with the tablets Moses brought back from Sinai. This Torah is to be cradled; to be guarded. It is to be guarded by priests who convey its contents to the people. This is a Torah to that is treasured, but also a Torah that remains alone, far from the people to whom it was given.
The second, though, is the Torah of the stones. This Torah is different: it has no container. Its purpose is to be read, and to that end, it must be written clearly. Whereas the other Torah remains in the center of the Temple, surrounded by the scent of sacrifices and by songs of service, this Torah remains on the edge of the land; exposed to rain and wind and the eyes of anyone who cares to read it. This Torah is a Torah of the people, but it is also a Torah unprotected, a Torah that can not just be read, but misread, tarnished, and disrespected.
We still haven’t decided what form we want our Torah to take: we still don’t know whether our feelings of reverence are stronger than our feelings of pride, whether our desire to protect Torah is stronger than our need to spread it. The ark is lost and the stones have been reduced to dust, and still, we haven’t decided how to shape the Torah, where to place it, or how to love it.
Rabbi Tali Adler is a faculty member at Yeshivat Hadar, an egalitarian yeshiva on the Upper West Side
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