The Torah Of Truth

My Machon Meir students told me of an extensive research project that went on trying to verify that the text of the Torah is accurate. They took copies of Torahs from all over the world and thoroughly cross checked the text of each Torah. They found that there are over 304,000 letters in the Five Books of Moses. The total number of discrepancies was NINE letters and none of them had any bearing on the interpretation of that particular verse. The obvious result of this information is proof that the Torah that we have today is the exact Torah that was transmitted by G-d to Moses to the Jewish people for generations. This week’s Torah portion is Nitzavim. We are nearing the end of the life of Moshe Rabbeinu and his final charge to the Jewish people. He reminds them that the covenant that they made is binding on all future generations. The Or Hachaim asks how were our ancestors permitted to obligate their descendants to follow Jewish Law. Shouldn’t they have had a say in the matter? He answers that because it is such a precious gift to fulfill the role of a Jew, it is viewed that they did us a huge favor by committing later generations to observe the Torah. In addition, we are now certain that the Torah in our possession is the authentic Torah. May the New Year bring a renewed commitment to connect on a deeper level to our heritage and our Jewish beliefs. Shana Tova