Get Yourself a Copy
On the final day of his life, Moses relayed the last two commandments of the Torah, the commandment that the Jewish people assemble once every seven years to hear the Torah read: Then, Moses commanded them, saying, "At the end of [every] seven years, at an appointed time, in the Festival of Succoth, [after] the year of release, When all Israel comes to appear before the Lord, your God, in the place He will choose, you shall read this Torah before all Israel, in their ears. Assemble the people: the men, the women, and the children, and your stranger in your cities, in order that they hear, and in order that they learn and fear the Lord, your God, and they will observe to do all the words of this Torah. (Deuteronomy 31:12-14) And the final commandment of the Torah, that every individual person write a Torah scroll: And now, write for yourselves this song, and teach it to the Children of Israel. Place it into their mouths, in order that this song will be for Me as a witness for the children of Israel. (Deuteronomy 31:19) Both commandments emphasize that, unlike other societies, the Torah is not the domain of a priestly or scholarly class. The Torah is the inheritance of every Jew. That is why the Torah is not exclusively housed in the temple but rather it must be in the possession of every Jew. That is why when the Torah is read after the Sabbatical, it is read not to a select group of delegates but rather to every man, woman, and child. As we prepare for the new year, let us apply the message of these commandments to our lives: we should purchase a book of the Torah (which is one way of fulfilling the commandment to write a Torah Scroll), and read it ourselves. Let us not rely on others to convey its messages to us; but rather we should interact with the book ourselves, enjoying the flavor and style of the original. And then, like the public assembly in Biblical times, we should join together to study Torah with other people, where we can be enriched by each others perspective and input.