Hear, The Word of Mighty one, Oh! House of Israel!
Learn to do Good, Seek Mercy and Justice. Afflict Your Souls, Tear your Heart, not your garments turn to AVINU, Your Most High and Repent Children of Men and Faith in Mashiach.
Etymological Hebrew Dictionary would describe Torah as:
Instruction, teaching.
the Book of Laws, the Torah.
the Five Books of the Torah, the Pentateuch.
theory, system.
a book containing the principles of any branch of science.
The word Torah comes from the Hebrew root yarah which means “the mark”. Torah is from a Hebrew root word, an archery term meaning “to take aim, to shoot” —as in shooting an arrow to hit a target. This is meant to bring to mind an archer as he strives to “hit the mark”. Torah most literally means “teaching” or “instruction” . Thus, the picture that the word Torah is meant to paint is aiming for the center of the target to do what is right.
Our sages said, “I have created the evil inclination, I have created the Torah as a spice. We should also know that the Torah is divided into two discernments: 1-Torah, 2-Mitzva.It is as our sages said (Sutah 21): “Rabbi Yosef said, ‘A Mitzva protects and saves while practiced, etc. The Torah protects and saves both when practiced and when not practiced.
The next traditional understanding of the word Torah is that it refers to both the oral and written Torah. Finally, the term can also refer to any valid spiritual teaching. Therefore, all Midrashic literature, Kabbalah, Hasidic texts, and Torah commentaries are called “Torah”.
Finally, the term can also be used to refer to the entire Hebrew Bible as well as to the Talmud, which is made up of a few centuries of rabbinic commentary on the Torah. Those using the term in this way sometimes divideTorah into 2 sections: the written law (the entire Hebrew Bible) and the oral law (the Talmud). Since the term torah means instruction or teaching, the traditional Jewish world uses torah in a very broad sense. For example, sometimes the Talmud, the authoritative compendium of Oral Law, is referred to as Torah. Along these lines, traditional rabbinic Judaism adheres to what is referred to as the Oral Torah.
Oral Torah is called The Mishnah. The Mishnah was completed roughly around 200 in the Common Era. In the following two to three hundred years, rabbinic sages in Israel and Babylonia wrote commentaries on Rabbi Yehudah haNasi’s Mishnah. These commentaries are called The Gemara.The Gemara was combined with the Mishnah into one work called The Talmud.
Torah also acquired other meanings over the course of the centuries. When the ancient Midrash Bereshit Rabbah speaks of Holy Ancient one looking into the Torah to create the universe.
The force that can bring us awareness of evil and its correction, unity with the good, and the models of connection is called the Torah. In other words, the Torah is the entire system of our correction.
Primordial Torah
The “primordial Torah” (Torah K’dumah) is another term for the Torah that preceded all creation. The Torah K’dumah is often seen by Kabbalists as part of the manifestation and revelation of Most High essence, and it is therefore not separate from Holy eternal living one. The well-known kabbalistic phrase for this perception is that “the Blessed Holy One and the Torah are One” (Kudshah Brikh Hu V’Oraita Khad Hu).
As it is written in the prophets, In the Last days, “And they will all be taught by Abba Avinu.” In the Sefer Yetzirah it is stated that “the end is embedded in the beginning and the beginning in the end.” In Gematria, we see that each letter and word has a dynamic meaning beyond the simple definitions. It can be interpreted the hidden meanings of the Torah.
The Torah that Moshe Rebbenu brought down from Har Sinai, gave the people of Israel the ability to reveal Kedushah, holiness, into the coarse, limited, physical world. Mashiach reveals a deeper level in Torah, that was never revealed before. It is totally beyond the level of Torah than we now have, since it comes from the essence of Hashem. Mashiach will do much more than reveal holiness; he will reveal a much deeper level in Torah, being the essence of Torah, which comes from the essence of Hashem.
Rabbeinu (our Rabbi), Maran Yeshua Melech HaMashiach said: “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.
Torah consciousness is the mind of Mashiach that enables a soul to see the Torah through the “eyes” of Mashiach. To enter in to Messiah Consciousness we have Torah written upon our hearts.
Torah Consciousness is Messiah in us, the Hope of Glory because Love is perfected by obedience to Torah. Torah is also called the “Tree of Life,” as it points us to Most High as He reveals Himself in the Sephirot(Mashiach Image), and thus His salvation. Going back to the time of Moses, Creator Himself states that His Torah is the way of “life.” As all men physically die, the context is one of the Torah being “the words of eternal life:”
The time has come to understand the levels of Torah. Through his hidden level of the Torah, we reconnect with Eden. Hence “Sod within Sod Level Torah” or “inner soul-level of the Torah” revealed by “Mashiach”.
The New Testament equates Yeshua with the Torah and the Tree of Life, mentioned in Proverbs, stating that He was behind the creation of the heavens and earth: In New Testament (Colossians) For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
John further states that Yeshua is the Torah, present with Most High and therefore “part of” Holy Ancient one . In New Testament (John) – In the beginning was the Torah, and the Torah was with Most High, and the Torah was Most High Holy Ancient one.
This concept is shown in the Midrash on Genesis (Bereshit), which explains how HaShem “consulted” the Divine Torah during the process of creation. “Most High” was behind “His architect” who had the direct involvement in the “project” of creation:
Hence “The Torah, the Creator, and Israel are one.” Hence, when one is studying Torah, he should study Lishma. This means that he studies with the intention that the Torah will teach him, meaning as is the name of the Torah, which means “instruction.” And because “the Torah, Israel, and the Creator are one,” the Torah teaches one the ways of the Creator, how He is clothed in the Torah.
In the shema, Torah proclaims that all things come from one ultimate unitary source. There is only one unifying force in the universe behind all things, Most High Ancient Holy one alone, and no other G-d. Nothing exists But only Ancient Holy one, the infinite-Eternal One, is the Supreme Being.
Shema yisrael YKVK(Yod-Keh-Vav-Keh) Elokenu YkVk Echad.
Torah is telling us that we must develop our data(knowledge) – our deep inner knowing, awareness and consciousness – to know and realize that we are part of a great unified data. The Spiritual Israel can see beneath the garb and perceive the sacred Wisdom of the Most High.
The Different Levels of Torah
Garments Torah
Body Torah
Soul of Torah/Hidden Torah / Torah of Mashiach
Soul of the Soul Torah
It is known to all Jews of complete faith that the entire Torah is founded on the distinction between neshamah(soul), guf(body), and levush(garment) ., That is the Torah itself has layers of meaning. It also contains an even deeper level of meaning, namely neshamah of neshamah(soul of the soul, corresponding to chayah, the deepest mysteries of the universe encoded in the Torah.
Pshat, Remez, D’rash, and Sod
“Each of the four levels of interpretation incorporates all of the other levels.
Within the level of sod, for example, there is the pshat within sod, the remez within sod, the Derash within sod, and the sod within sod.
The pshat within sod was revealed by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.
The remez within sod was revealed by the Arizal.
The Derash within sod was revealed by the Baal Shem Tov.
Sod within sod will be revealed by Mashiach as we love to call as Yeshuah our Mashiach.
When we labor in the study of Torah it is like a man who labors in an orchard (PaRDeS):
Moshe de Leon treated the term Pardes as an acronym for the four levels of reading Torah. Each of the consonants in the word Pardes stands for one of the levels of meaning in the Torah. The pstands for pshat or the simple, literal meaning of the words. The r stands for remez, which means “hint,” but in medieval Hebrew came to stand for the allegorical reading of the text that was the mainstay of Jewish philosophy. The d stands for d’rash, which essentially means “to investigate, to seek out, to expound” and here refers to Aggadic and Talmudic interpretations. The s stands for sod, the secret meaning of the text.
Thus David said:” Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law”
THE ABOVE TORAH/ TZYION TORAH/ MASHICAH OF TORAH/ SUPERNAL TORAH/ SOUL TORAH
The Zohar teaches that there are several “layers” in the Torah, each associated with an essence of the Divine.
Author Yehuda Liebes points out that according to the Zohar, there is much more to the commandments of the Torah than what is learned “at the surface.” In fact, to not attempt to penetrate the mysteries of G-d and creation (through the deeper levels of Torah) would lead to Torah becoming meaningless.
As Yehuda Liebes explains:
The lowest level is the Torah’s outer garments which are the stories of the Torah in their plain sense; their supernal source lies not in the sefirot but in the heavens and their hosts (the stars, spheres or angels). The stratum beneath the garments is the body, comprising of the mitsvot, which are called “gufei Torah,” the “bodies of the Torah,” their souce is the Shekinah. Beneath the body is the “soul,” which is the true essence of the Torah, and has its origin in Tif’eret. The fourth stratum is the “soul of the soul” of the Torah, and it originates in Attika Kaddisha.
The term Attika Kaddisha in the above text refers to “The Holy Ancient One” (Aramaic). In some contexts, this term is a synonym for “the Ancient of Days” (Attik Yomin), or for the Sephirah of Keter in general.5
The Zohar indicates that the possibility to see “the soul of the Torah” (that derived from Tipheret), exists in this world (as was occasioned at Mount Sinai), but experiencing the “soul of the soul,” is reserved for the world to come.
From Zohar:
Come see..The Torah has a body and a soul. The Torah’s body is its commandments which are called gufei Torah, literally “limbs of torah”. This body itself covered with garments which are none other than the mundane stories of the Torah. Fools do no attempt to see beneath these outer garments. Those who understand more do not look only at the garments, but at the body underneath. Those who are truly wise, the servants of supernal king….Look at the soul of Torah(Mashiach Torah), its essence. In the ultimate future, they are destined to behold the soul of the soul of the Torah. Woe to those who think that the torah is nothing but its stories…Happy are those who see the Torah as it is meant be seen.
So it is with the Torah. Its narrations which relate to the things of the worlds constitute the garments which clothe the body of the Torah and that body is composed of the Torah’s precepts, gufey-torah (bodies, major principles). People without understanding see only the narrations, the garment those somewhat more penetrating see also the body. But the truly wise, those who serve the most high King and stood on mount Sinai, pierce all the way through to the soul, to the true Torah which is the root principle of all.
See now how it is like this in the highest world, with garment, body, soul and super-soul. The outer garments are the heavens and all therein, the body is the Community of Israel and it is the recipient of the soul, that is ‘the Glory of Israel’; and the soul of the soul is the Ancient Holy One. All of these are conjoined one within the other.
But the really wise, the servants of the most high King, those who stood on Mount Sinai, penetrate right through to the soul, the root principle of all, namely, to the real Torah. In the future the same are destined to penetrate even to the super-soul (soul of the soul) of the Torah. Observe that in a similar way in the supernal world there is garment, body, soul and super-soul. The heavens and their hosts are the outer garment, the Community of Israel [i.e., Malkut] is the body which receives the soul, to wit, the “Glory of Israel” [i.e., Tipheret] ; and the super-soul is the Ancient Holy One. All these are interlocked within each other. Woe to the sinners who consider the Torah as mere worldly tales, who only see its outer garment; happy are the righteous who fix their gaze on the Torah proper. Wine cannot be kept save in a jar; so the Torah needs an outer garment. These are the stories and narratives, but it behoves us to penetrate beneath them.
Noted Kabbalist, Z’ev Ben Shimon Halevi, expresses a similar viewpoint:
It has been said that the words of the Torah are like a fine garment, and that beneath the weave is the soul, which is G-d. While a natural man may be familiar with the Scriptures to a remarkable degree it does not mean, as we have noted, that he perceives their inner content. He may obey all the Commandments scrupulously, and this is to his credit; but it does not mean he comprehends what the Law is really about. This requires a shift in view, a process of conversion that will enable him, not only to perceive the anatomy of the body and its workings, but to glimpse the soul within the body.
At the higher level of Tipheret, is the deeper study of the Torah, (i.e., Kabbalah). This level of understanding is associated with receiving of the “higher soul”.
Soncino Zohar, Vayikra, Section 3, Section 2, Page 35a – What, now, is the difference between those who study the Torah and faithful prophets? The former are ever superior, since they stand on a higher level. Those who study the Torah stand in a place called Tifereth (Beauty), which is the pillar of all faith, whereas the prophets stand lower in the place called Nezah (Victory) and Hod (Majesty); and those who merely speak in the spirit of holiness stand lower still. He who studies the Torah needs neither peace offerings nor burnt offerings, since the Torah is superior to all and the bond of faith; wherefore it is written “Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace” (Prov), and also, “Great peace have they which love thy law and they have no occasion for stumbling” (Psalms).’
Note that the Zohar (above) goes as far as saying that a person studying Torah does not require the usual sacrifices of reconciliation to G-d. Without an understanding of the levels of Torah, and context of this teaching, such a statement would be considered antinomian in spirit (which the Hebrew Zohar is not of course).
As Yehuda Liebes states of the Zohar’s view of Torah:
“… it speaks, rather, of deepening the Torah we possess and tempering it by means of a profound mystical vision.”
The following comments on this subject show that there is a “higher” (or “deeper”) level of Torah, and offers a rebuke of those who do not look beyond the “outer garments” or even the “body” of the Torah, to the actual “soul” of the Torah. This censure is strikingly familiar to Yeshua’s rebuke of the Pharisees over the same issues:
Yeshua is pointing out that the purpose of the Torah commandments was to teach us about the Tree of Life (the Sephirot), which in turn instructs us on a deeper level of Torah understanding.
The Zohar holds a view of a “Supernal Torah” (from which the Torah given to us at Mount Sinai is a reflection). This earthly/historical Torah is to the Supernal Torah, what the earthly Temple, artifacts, priesthood, its functions (and defects!), are to the Supernal ones. Thus, the Zohar supports the concept of the Supernal “Melchizadek priesthood” (from which the Levitical priesthood was patterned), as described in the “New Testament” book of Hebrews.
Interestingly, the Zohar credits this tikkun to the actions of Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai, who preached the return of love and mercy as the “missing ingredient,” that was key to correctly following Torah. The “New Testament” of course, credits the same teaching to Yeshua.
Rabbi Yeshua Words:
But you have neglected the more important matters of the law–justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
This “Supernal Torah” that has been mentioned throughout this study, is the Torah of Messiah, a concept found throughout Jewish literature.
Genesis Rabbah 98:9 – When he, about whom it is written, “Lowly and riding upon an ass” (Zechariah 9:9) will come … he will elucidate for them the words of the Tora … and elucidate for them their errors.
Ecclesiastes Rabbah 11:1 – The whole Tora which you learn in this world is vanity against the Torah of the World to Come. For in this world a man learns Tora and forgets, but in the Furture to Come (he will not forget), as it is written, “I will put My Tora in their inward parts and in their heart I will write it.” (Jeremeiah).
Midrash Alpha Beta diR. Akiba, BhM 3:27-29 – In the future the Holy One, blessed be He, will sit in the Garden of Eden and expound (the Torah) … the Holy One, blessed be He, will expound to them the meanings of a new Tora which he will give them through the Messiah.
Hesed l’Avraham (Abraham Azulai) 13c-14a – This is the secret of the Tora which the Holy One, blessed be He, will renew for Israel … The Torah will remain in her place. But at present her words are combined in physical combinations, as they were needed for this physical world. But in the future, when the children of Adam will divest themselves of this physical body and will ascend and attain to the mystery of the body which Adam the first man had before he sinned, then they will become adepts in the mystery of the Torah, when that which is hidden will be revealed.
Yemenite Midrash, pp. 349-350 – In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will seat the Messiah in the supernal Yeshiva (House os Study), and they will call him “the Adonai,” just as they call the creator … And the Messiah will sit in the Yeshiva, and all those who walk on the earth will come and sit before him to hear a new Torah and new commandments and the deep wisdom which he teaches Israel.
This relationship of Messiah to multiple Sephirot is seen throughout Jewish literature.
Talmud Bab. Bath. – “Three are called by the name of the Holy One, blessed be he (Tipheret), and they are: the righteous one (Yesod), the Messiah, and Jerusalem (Malkut/Binah).”
One of the most interesting concepts found in both Talmud and Kabbalah, is that of “violating Torah for the sake of heaven.” This concept of “breaking Torah” because it is “time to act for the Adonai,” is alluded to in the Talmud which says:
Menahot 99a-b – There are times when the abrogation of the Torah is its foundation.
An even more direct statement found in Talmud, states the following concerning a “tried and true” prophet of HaShem:
Sanhedrin 90a – R. Abbahu said in R. Johanan’s name; In every matter, if a prophet tells you to transgress the commands of the Torah, obey him, with the exception of idolatry.
(Note: Soncino Talmud cites the actions of Elijah on Mount Carmel as an example of this type.)
Why would the Talmud make such statements as the above two? The Talmud correctly recognizes that there is more than one “level” of Torah. The 613 commands of the historical Torah, given at Mount Sinai, are at one level. At another, more sublime level, is the Supernal Torah – the deeper level of understanding that reveals G-d’s ultimate plan. (i.e., the Torah of Messiah which is the Torah of Binah, and Torah of Mount Zion as referred to in Galatians and Hebrews .
The words of Yeshua and actions of His disciples do not invalidate the Torah of Sinai, nor the commands regarding the Sabbath, which are still to be followed. The sole issue here surrounds Him and the relationship between the “Torah of Sinai” and the “Torah of Messiah,” which is the Supernal Torah.
The Torah of Sinai, which is the Torah of this World, was given due to sin, and accomodates much of man’s sin in its teachings. As stated earlier, the Supernal Torah is at a “different level” than the historical Torah.
A good example of this issue of “different levels of Torah,” is seen when comparing Ezekiel’s Temple (the Millennial Temple), to those in the past (and also the Tabernacle). Rabbinic analysis recognizes that there are several “violations of Torah” with how Ezekiel’s Temple functions. Reconciling them is not so easy, without an understanding of the Supernal Torah.
For instance, the Stone Edition Chumash commentary on Ezekiel’s Temple, states the following:
The commentators note that several of the laws pronounced by Ezekiel contradict the laws of Torah, a clear contradiction of the principle that the commandments of the Torah are eternal and immutable … the Messianic era is shrouded in mystery: therefore the simple meaning of this passage must remain hidden from us until, in the words of Rabbi Yochanan in Menachos 45a, the prophet Elijah will come and reveal it to us.
This last point follows the view of Rabbi Chaim’s teacher, the Vilna Gaon zt’l: “Torah to the soul is like water to the ground, it causes whatever is sown to grow – whether it be (plants producing) an elixir of life or (poisonous plants producing) a death potion. So too, the torah causes to grow what is in the heart of a person. If his heart is good, hisyira will grow otherwise the opposite will grow.
Therefore a person should empty his heart every day before and after learning from negative mindsets and bad middos by yira chet andmaasim tovim… and this is (also) what the Sages refer to as the ‘beis hakise’ (toilet), saying ‘one should empty (relieve) himself daily morning and evening”
And the Vilna Gaon wrote: “One cannot feel the sweetness of torah without having first distanced oneself from the taavas (desires for physical pleasures and comfort)” (see commentary on Mishlei 27:7) ”
The Rambam wrote: “The torah does not grow in those who are casual with them, and not in those who learn and indulge in food and drink, rather only in one who kills himself over it and causes pain to his body always, and he doesn’t give sleep to his eyes nor rest to his eyelids” – (Hilchos Talmud Torah 3:12). Likewise, “this is the way of the torah, eat bread with salt, sleep on the floor, and live a life of hardship” (Mishna Avos). ”
The Rambam wrote (end of Avos) “The Sages say that one’s torah study does not endure unless it is with strenuous effort and reverence for the teacher. But torah study with pampering and comfort does not endure, and a man does not enjoy this kind of study. The Sages said this explicitly – “torah that I learned with Af (difficulty) – it endured with me”.”
“Torah study is hard, gruelling labor but which eventually brings the greatest joy.” (Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt’l Derash Moshe vol.2 Artscroll). ”
“Torah study weakens the yetzer hara even when it’s without the proper enthusiasm and intentions.” (Nefesh HaChaim:sections Etz Chaim and Likutei Amareim 27).
Rabbeinu (our Rabbi), Maran Yeshua Melech HaMashiach Words:
For had ye believed Moses [Torah], ye would have believed me,for he wrote of me.
Prophets Witness:
…For the Torah will go out from Zion; and the word of Most Holy Ancient one from Yerushalayim.”
Beit Yaaqov Community Serves the Most High Holy one and upholds the word of Mighty one based on torah framework. We respect and honors all rabbi’s who lived in all generations
However we do and follow the “Rabbi, Maran Yeshua Melech Ha Mashaiach teachings”, and seek the son of David Instructions so that he can rule the Yaaqov House forever and ever. So our Main focus attributes are Mercy, Loving-Kindness and Justice, Joined with above levels of Holy one Emanations of Keter ( Will and Purpose), Chochmah (Wisdom) and Binah (Understand). Please check in Mission page of Mashiach Image.
Understand the Torah with oneness of Wisdom which was taught by Yeshua HaMashiach. And they were amazed at his torah, because Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach’s dvar torah was with samchut (authority) – Luke 4 :32
All the tribes of Yisrael are blessed in above and below realm. Worship Most High! Praise Your Avinu! He blessed Your children among You, He keeps the peace at your borders.Your Kingdom is a kingdom eternal. Your reign continues through all generations.
Baruch kavod Abba Avinu from his makom!
Your mercy Endures forever and ever! Hodla Avinu Ki Tov Le’Olam Haslo.
