Sermons & Stories

Shabbat Shalom!

The story I share tonight comes from II Kings. It’s a reminder that our Tanakh, our Bible, is well worth exploring. We start off with Josiah – who becomes king in Jerusalem when he’s just eight years old. We don’t know much about those early years, but something monumental occurs eighteen years later.

King Josiah orders regular maintenance and repairs on the Temple. This would have been about 2700 years ago. When the repairs are taking place, something fascinating happens – Sefer HaTorah is found! If we were talking about a Sefer Torah today – we’d be talking about a Torah Scroll. But in the Bible, the word “Torah” doesn’t usually refer to the Torah as we know it. A more accurate translation would be a Scroll of the Teaching or a Scroll of the Law.

When the scroll is read to the king, he starts tearing his clothing in mourning. He consults Huldah the prophetess and then gathers all the elders and all the inhabitants in Jerusalem and has the scroll read to everyone. Then he has everyone enter into a covenant – accepting the words from the scroll.

And that’s when Josiah starts with the changes. There was a lot of idolatry and other practices outlawed by the scroll, so idols and shrines and symbols of many different religions all goes away. Human sacrifice was forbidden – yes, even though it is condemned many times in our Bible, it appears that it’s a part of our history. II Kings, chapters 22 and 23 details the finding of the scroll and all the reforms. What it doesn’t reveal, however, is what this scroll is exactly - who wrote it and where did it come from?

Biblical scholars will look at all the changes Josiah makes and look at the rest of our Bible for clues. The general understanding is that this scroll is none other than the Book of Deuteronomy. When we look at Parshat Shoftim, this week’s Torah portion, and the Torah readings from the past couple weeks and Deuteronomy as a whole, it fits well with the reforms of King Josiah. And many scholars will go so far as to argue that the Book of Deuteronomy wasn’t found when the Temple was being repaired… they say that this Sefer HaTorah was a new creation – written during King Josiah’s time. But perhaps both the story and the scroll were written at a later time an inserted into II Kings or perhaps this scroll truly was written, lost, and then found.

There are lots of theories… I’m not aware of any concrete evidence that can dispel all doubts about this mysterious scroll. Regardless of where it came from, I find the story and the mystery to be both fascinating and important for two reasons.

First – it highlights the idea that ancient wisdom can be rediscovered. And in our situation, we don’t have to chance upon it when we’re doing repairs here at CBI. Our Torah, our Tanakh, and all our rabbinic writings are at our fingertips, waiting to be discovered. Websites like Sefaria.org have made ancient texts accessible and searchable to read or study in Hebrew or in English – with commentaries and connections just a click away. Daily emails from ReformJudaism.org or numerous podcasts offer more ways to do Jewish learning than ever before. It’s all there – we just have to take advantage of it.

Second – it highlights the idea that ancient wisdom can be relevant in today’s world. King Josiah reads this text and realizes that he needs to change. What powerful inspiration for us during the month of Elul, the month of reflection leading up to Rosh Hashanah. What text could we find and consider with an open heart that could be interesting or mysterious or wise or could lead us on a path of t’shuvah – repentance, returning back to the divine or maybe even allowing the divine back into our lives.

These teachings remind us that there’s a reason why it’s a mitzvah, a sacred obligation, to study Torah. Studying our sacred tradition challenges us to think and consider, learn and grow, struggle and understand. It’s a way of doing Jewish that is open to all of us. We just have to say this is important. For it is important. In words of Torah, we not only find wisdom, we find ourselves, our People, and our relationship with the divine. That’s worth exploring.

Shabbat Shalom!