The Torah is Readily Available

There is a Pasuk in פרשת נצבים that is full of hope and encouragement. The Torah tells us that לא בשמים היא כי קרוב אליך הדבר, that this matter of Teshuva and coming close to Hashem is not in the heavens. But it is close to you.

One must not think that he is too far gone to ever become an observant Jew. He might foolishly believe that he is too ignorant to ever become knowledgeable in the study of Torah.

One must not think that this is elusive and unachievable. It is, as the Torah says, בפיך ובלבבך לעשותו, it is in your heart and mouth to do.

The Midrash tells a story of how Eliyahu Hanavi came to a fisherman and asked him why he wasn’t involved in Torah study. He answered that he was just a simple fisherman who did not have the tools to study. Eliyahu Hanavi asked him where he got the knowledge to sew the nets to catch his fish. The fisherman told him that this was something he learned. Eliyahu said that just as you learned how to fish, you could also learn Torah. The fisherman wept and vowed to begin his studies.

The Torah is not in the heavens. It is right in front of us and available to all.