1
In the beginning
Why does every volume of the Talmud begin with page 2 and not page 1? To teach us that no matter how much we learn, we have not yet reached the first page! R. Levi Yitzhok of Berditchev
White fire upon black fire Round about three and a half thousand years ago, according to the book of Exodus, Moses descended from Mount Sinai carrying two tablets of stone. On it were engraved ten commandments. According to one legend the commandments were written in white fire, against a background of black fire. Another legend has it that the words were engraved right through the rock, yet the centres of the round letters, which by rights should have fallen out, remained miraculously in place and the writing was legible from each side. These Ten Commandments were to become the centrepiece of the five books which Moses wrote during the forty years that the Israelites wandered through the wilderness. The books became known as the Torah, or Teaching. The Five Books of Moses are amongst the most exalted works of world literature. They contain stories that have inspired generations, proclaim religious and ethical teachings which spawned three great faiths and lay out a complex system of legislation which was designed to animate the lives of the Israelite tribes for all eternity. But for all their grandeur they are not easy books. The chronology can be confused, sometimes it is hard to fathom out the sequence in which events occurred. Most of the laws and regulations seem to be hazy, invariably they are not spelled out in enough detail. Several teachings appear distinctly cruel, even unethical to modern minds. Inspirational it may be. But the Torah often leaves its readers with more questions than answers.
9781472905949_txt_print.indd 9
10/12/2013 14:14