MembersThe Love of Learning: The Heart of Jewish Life

This is part of our series on “Athens or Jerusalem? Establishing the Spiritual Heritage of Jesus’ Followers”

Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life. Proverbs 4:13

Learning is at the core of Jewish civilization and its enduring survival. The Jews have long been called “the People of the Book,” and for good reason. From Bible times until the present day, through exiles, hostilities, hatred and tribulations, the Jews knew one thing; they can strip us of our dignity, take everything away from us, and try to destroy us, but no one can ever take away what we have learned.

And what is it that the Jewish people have learned? The stories that Israel tells are the record of God’s interactions with mankind, and our responses, good or bad, so that the world could “Know God.” The obsessive passion for Jewish learning comes from the belief that Israel is a chosen nation with a story to...