Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on May 30, 2013 by AdAm Mayer
This what I shared at the Final Community Lunch:
I love Purim.
Do you remember Rosh Hodesh Adar?
I can still see the Pardes staff dressed up as hippies, spreading messages and cookies of peace and love.
Purim is the time where the truth is revealed and the inside is shown on the outside.
This is the “tchelet Mordechai” that we sing about, as the Eish Kodesh writes, which is an overflow of our inner feelings that take expression in our clothes and costumes. It is not an accident that on rosh hodesh adar all the staff at pardes came dressed as hippies, with buttons banners of peace and love
because that is exactly what the Torah is about.
Peace and Love
Love for Torah – והאר עינינו בתורתך ודבק לבנו במצוותך
Love for one another – אמר רבי עקיבא: ואהבת לרעך כמוך זה כלל גדול בתורה
and Love for God – ואהבת את ה’ אלקיך
How can we love something that we don’t know?
and so we spent this year learning – learning Torah, learning about one another and learning about God.
And here in Jerusalem we are privileged to be at the source of it all: כי מציון תצא תורה
I also remember the scare of Amud Annan that disrupted our normal schedule, and almost prevented us from learning Torah.
But not only is Peace a condition necessary to be able to learn Torah, it is also the purpose of Torah. תלמידי חכמים מרבים שלום בעולם
We have conditions, and we have purpose. We have more to learn.
If we look at this from a wider perspective, what is formed here is a cycle: A cycle of peace and love that is powered by Torah.
Peace allows the human mind to contemplate.
Love inspires us to know better know the Other.
Torah is what we contemplate. Torah is how we can better know the other. Torah enables us to grow, to love, and to work towards peace.
I believe that it is imperative that we all, each one of us, continue to grow; continue this cycle of peace and love powered by Torah.
Wherever you are next year make some time, even one hour a week, for Torah. Find a hevruta, make a set time for Torah. קובע זמנים לתורה
May this love stay strong forever
May we all be peace makers wherever we go
May we all keep learning.
