Tracing the just concluded Simchath Torah festival, NOEL EZEKIEL MALEKAR walks us through divine laws that followers revere
The Simchath Torah festival marks the completion of the one-year cycle of the reading of the Law, but since Torah reading should be continuous, as soon as the final portion of the Law is read, a second scroll is opened and a new cycle is commenced by reading the first portion of Genesis. A special ceremony marks the reading of the last and first sections of the Torah (Pentateuch). The persons who have the honour of reading them are called Khattan Torah, bridegroom of the Law, and Khattan Bereshit, bridegroom of the Beginning, respectively.
Jews derive great joy from the Torah embodied in the Sefer Torah or Scroll of Torah. Congregation members are honoured with the privilege of carrying the Scrolls. They form Hakafoth, a procession, and circumambulate the synagogue rostrum seven times, chanting hymns, singing religious folk songs, the texts of which deal with the Torah.
The Ten Commandments were given to the children of Israel inscribed on two tablets of stone, five on each side. This arrangement of the commandments emphasises visually the two types of obligation that every human being has: Duty towards God and duty towards his fellowmen.
The first five commandments deal entirely with our duty towards God. The last five commandments refer explicitly to our duty towards our fellowmen, teaching respect for life and property. All such laws, namely, from 6-10 — Thou shall not murder, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness nor covet — come from these commandments; if followed, they are expected to prevent humankind from bloodshed, betrayal, war, envy, or evil and ensure the individual, at all times, dignity and a life of value.
It is noteworthy that in the Ten Commandments, God placed our duty to fellowmen on the same level as He placed our duties towards God. We might have thought that the Ten Commandments, which are the most important religious teachings, would be concerned solely with how to worship God. But both sets of duties, the duty to God and the duty to fellowmen are included in equal measure. Therefore, one cannot say, “How I behave towards my fellowmen is not important as long as I believe in God and pray to Him.” Nor can one say, “I do not have to believe in God as long as I behave properly towards others.”
Love Transcends All
Morality is based on belief in God, and on His commandments. If we separate goodness from religion or religion from goodness, then we are denying God’s role in our daily lives. We fulfil our duties to God and fellowmen, not from fear, but from love of God and fellowmen.
The Bible emphasises this and equates our relationship to God with our relationship to our fellowmen. The Bible says: “And thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might.” It also teaches, “and thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself.”
I always remember the teachings of Rabbi Hillel when he explained the essence of the entire Torah in one sentence thus: “What is hateful and hurtful to you, do not do to others.” How meaningful it is for “love of fellowmen and love of God to be intertwined, one with the other!”
The writer’s father leads the Judah Hyam Synagogue in New Delhi
COMMENT