I am someone who enjoys a good cup of tea. Of course, my tea always tends to be with milk and sugar (I am a big Chai fan!). My family
says I like to have tea with my milk and sugar. It wasn't until I was in my 20's that I started to develop a taste for other kinds
of tea. I now enjoy many kinds.
I remember the first time I saw a film of someone performing the Japanese Tea Ceremony. For me, I couldn't understand the
significance. I would think this ceremony couldn't be too complete; there is no milk or sugar. I was young and I obviously wasn't
getting what was going on.
It was explained to me that what is taking place in the Tea Ceremony, really is not about the tea at all. It is the intention and
focus that are applied to the preparation, serving and consuming of the tea that is the centre of the ceremony. You could call it
Zen. Just like many aspects of Japanese culture, there is this sense of intention and purpose applied to an activity that, on the
outset, might seem like an everyday occurrence.
This may have been like one of those stray bits of information that lodge somewhere in you brain with no discernible purpose, but
then I read about the Rabbinical approach to the Study of Torah and this seemingly random bit of information took on a whole new
life.
The living of Torah, every Mitzvah, is to be approached with intention and focus. The very study of Torah is man being the image of
Elohim in the sense that he is living consciously. Torah factors into all areas of a person's life, so all factors of that
person's life are to be approached with intention, focus and purpose.
Just as Hashem created order in the universe, we study Torah and live Torah emulating this order in our own lives, rejecting the
chaos all around us. This is why the very notion of Torah being something a person seeks to avoid or ignore is ludicrous. To
ignore the Torah of Hashem is to ignore the order that created the universe. When we ignore Torah, we ignore the creator of Torah.
When we turn away from Torah, we embrace chaos - we embrace the darkness as the light.
To someone who sees a person don a tallit, blow a shofar, avoid certain foods, do certain prayers in certain ways - all of this
is for a purpose. And like the analogy of the Tea Ceremony, we may not truly understand the "Why", there are elements of Torah we
can understand; there are many more that even after a lifetime of study will elude us because this is Hashem's Teaching we are
talking about, and the finite cannot truly grasp the infinite. Even the most diligent student of Torah must realise that the
observing of Torah precedes the comprehension of Torah. That a mitzvah does not get left unobserved, simply because a person has
issues with a mitzvah. In these times it is better that the individual put their energy, not into trying to unravel the mitzvah
itself, but how to observe the ritual in the right heart and spirit. If that person never knew anything other than a mitzvah were
from Hashem, that would be more than enough. If that mitzvah told the person to roll a boulder up and down a hill everyday for the
rest of their days and gave them no reason for this, then we should observe the mitzvah and if Hashem opens our eyes and minds and
helps us to realise the importance of the mitzvah, that is a blessing but it is not an expectation.
Some could say I am advocating a Zen approach to Torah, but since Torah predates Zen it could be that the opposite is true - that
this sense of intention, of purpose and focus that people look to in Buddhism, was always a part of Torah Judaism. But the big
difference is where the goal of Buddhist thought would be achieving "No Mind". The Nesarim would be emphasising being of One Mind
with Hashem.
We do not observe Torah because it is logical, practical, convenient or healthy - we observe Torah for one reason, to be in harmony
with the Mind of Elohim. Hashem created order out of chaos, so too, He offers us the chance to bring order into our lives from
the chaos of the fallen world. That is why doing all of them is important, but doing them in the right spirit is even more
important. Do them consciously, purposefully, and with focus.
I am someone who enjoys a good cup of tea. Of course, my tea always tends to be with milk and sugar (I am a big Chai fan!). My family
says I like to have tea with my milk and sugar. It wasn't until I was in my 20's that I started to develop a taste for other kinds
of tea. I now enjoy many kinds.
