Torah, the Hebrew name for the Bible, literally means “Teaching” or “Guidance”. First and foremost Torah is teaching us about our relationship to the Cosmos, our spiritual quest. We will learn how to look at Torah as Sacred Myth, shining light on the human journey towards greater awareness.
Projected onto a physical landscape, the Torah takes us on an inner journey from constriction to expansion, from enslavement to freedom. We will learn how to look at Torah as Sacred Myth, shining light on the human journey towards greater awareness.
I: In The Beginning
The story of Creation, and the subsequent tale of the Garden of Eden are traditionally interpreted by Jews on multiple, simultaneous levels: narrative, allegory, and mystical. We will explore the mystical level of interpretation – the birth of consciousness.
II: Abraham
In the Jewish tradition, Abraham is the archetypal spiritual seeker, who recognizes that all creation stems from one Source, and who leaves security and certainty behind in order to follow the call he hears to know God. We will explore Abraham’s story in the Book of Genesis, and look at the way Jewish Sages through the millennia interpret the tale.
III: Jacob
Jacob dreams of a ladder reaching from the ground on which he is sleeping up to heaven. This is Jacob’s spiritual awakening, which climaxes 20 years later when he wrestles all night with the angel, and receives the name Israel. Israel is our spiritual patriarch – we bear his name – what is Israel’s deeper meaning?
IV: Moses
Moses, the great Teacher of the Jewish People, goes on a classic hero’s journey, heading beyond the edge of the wilderness to encounter a vision that animates the remainder of his life: a bush that burns but is not consumed. What does this vision mean? The unfolding answer is the key to the Jewish understanding of God, and of our purpose on this earth.
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