Showing posts with label reciting words of Torah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reciting words of Torah. Show all posts

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Talmud Bavli Ta'anit on Reading Scriptural Sections on Offerings to Atone for Sins

"Abraham said: Master of the Universe! Perhaps Israel will sin before You and You will do to them as You did to the generation of the Flood and the generation of the Dispersion. God answered him: No! Abraham said before God: Let me know by what means shall Israel atone for their sins and thereby be saved from destruction. God answered Abraham: 'Bring Me three calves and three goats...' (Genesis 15:9).

"Abraham said before God: Master of the Universe! That is fine for the times when the Holy Temple will be in existence, but in the times when the Holy Temple will not be in existence, what will be with them? God answered Abraham: I have already established for them the Scriptural section of offerings. Whenever they read from them before Me, I will consider it as if they had brought offerings before Me, and I will forgive them of all their sins."

-- Talmud Bavli, Ta'anit 27b


This teaches that there is something significant about reciting the sections of Torah that describe the priestly rituals. The way the Torah works is that it is a vibrationally coded instruction manual. The word "sacrifice" comes from a root meaning "to be made close to", in other words, the sacrifices are the means by which we can be made close to God. The sacrifices are not meant to be carried out physically, but instead through speech, as it is the vibrational effects of the sounds of the words that are significant. Thus, the morning prayer service contains several readings of the Torah passages detailing the rituals of the Kohanim.

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Talmud Bavli Avodah Zarah on Reciting Verses of Torah and Talmud

"And Rava said: A person should always recite, even if he forgets, and even if he does not understand what he is saying."

-- Talmud Bavli, Avodah Zarah 19a



That is, he should read the verses of Torah and Talmud out loud in the original Hebrew. This teaches that there is great merit for those who learn to speak the Holy Languages.

Thursday, May 8, 2014

Midrash Rabbah Shemot on Prayer and Reciting Words of Torah

"Anyone who does the Will of the Omnipresent and directs his mind in prayer, God listens to him in this world, and so too in the World to Come; for it is stated, 'It will be that before they call I will answer' (Isaiah 65:24) ─ in this world, 'while they speak, I will hear' (ibid.) ─ in the World to Come.
"And what will they speak in the World to Come? The explanation is that in the World to Come every person will stand and make his Torah learning heard, and God will sit and make His Torah heard with them, as it is stated, 'Then those who fear haShem spoke to one another, and haShem listened' (Malachi 3:16). And it is written, 'And your eyes will behold your Teacher and your ears will listen' (Isaiah 30:20-21); and 'All your children will be students of haShem' (ibid. 54:13)."

-- Midrash Rabbah, Shemot 21.3