Let My People Know

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz: “What is the point of learning about higher worlds and the various kinds of angels, when the fact is that we have no true understanding of these concepts?”

A commonly asked question with regard to Torah study is, what purpose is there in studying topics we cannot possibly comprehend, such as certain aggadie sections of the Talmud?

What is the point of learning about higher worlds and the various kinds of angels, when the fact is that we have no true understanding of these concepts?

The primary answer given, albeit formulated differently by various sages, is that upon studying a particular concept, even if one does not understand it properly, he nevertheless comprehends a basic structure upon which he may later build.

There may initially be no discernable difference between a person who studied Torah un- comprehendingly and someone who did not engage in Torah study at all, but it will become quite clear at a time when “your Teacher will no longer be concealed” and “they shall see eye to eye.”

At that point, the one who did engage in Torah study will say: “Ah, this is what I studied then, though I did not understand it!”

He will have a foundational starting point, a framework with which to receive and maintain a grip on the great light.

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz