Levels of Study

Levels of Study At the beginning, the Torah contented itself with sending signs to man. If these signs were understood, all the better, and if not, the Torah took man by the hand and guided him like a simpleton. The Torah spoke to him first through a curtain which it shrouded with words to make them accessible, and progressed very slowly. This manner of proceeding is called drasham or rabbinical preaching. Then Torah spoke to man through a thin veil sewn of tight chains, using enigmas and parabols. This was called haggadam or allegorical interpretation. When man became familiar with these processes, Torah revealed itself to him openly and led him into the hidden mysteries and mysterious ways engraved in its heart from time immemorial. At this level, man became a true partisan of Torah, a 'master of the house,' since all mysteries were revealed and nothing was withheld or hidden. Finally, Torah spoke to man and said, 'You remember the signs and the allusions that I sent you at the beginning and how many mysteries they enclosed.' Man realized then that nothing could be either added or taken away from Torah, not even a single letter or sign. Zohar, Exodus, 99a-b The debates on the respective importance of study and practice are a commonplace of rabbincal thinking. The basic question seems to have less to do with being and non-being as it does in philosophy ('from the moment of his creation, a sage retorted, man should apply himself to doing his duty,") than with the question of study or practice. .