Over And Over Again
Ben Bag Bag said: Turn it over again and again, for everything is in
it.
-Pirkei Avot 5:26
Commentary: The stories of the Torah are teaching stories. They
can be read again and again for years and years, and one can still find
new lessons and insights in them. It is said that there are four levels
of interpretation to any story in the Torah with the lowest level being
the plain meaning of the passage and the highest level being the secret,
mystical interpretation. It is also said that every word in the Torah has
at least seventy interpretations. Another marvelous teaching says that every
story in the Torah has as many interpretations as there are Jews and that
the whole Torah isn't present until all the Jewish people come together.
Finally, a wonderful passage in the Zohar explains
that if the passages in the Torah were just mere stories, then we could
create better stories!
