Etching Wisdom: Penimiyus HaTorah as a 21st Century Cure for Information Overload6 min read
Introduction
For all its contributions to the progress of humanity, the digital revolution has nevertheless seen its fair share of setbacks. Not unlike our forebears, Yitzchak and Rivkah, the information age has given birth to twins – one good and one evil – so that, remarkably, the same generation privileged to bear witness to an unprecedented explosion of wisdom leading to advancements in the fields of communication, agricultural and medical technologies, has, at the same time, undoubtedly suffered from the crippling side effects of “information overload.”
Wisdom, like the tumultuous floodwaters, has burst forth, as “the fountains of the great deep erupt, and the floodgates of heaven open” (Bereishis 7:11).[i] The seemingly endless stream of emails, blogposts, and the sheer wealth of information passing before our eyes on a given day (or given hour!), has made it, for most of us, increasingly difficult to turn what often seem like dull and dusty data points into clear directions for dynamic development, to transform stale statistics into a sincere and sustainable system for self-improvement, or to convert flat facts into a firm footpath toward a more fulfilling future.
But despair not! If you’re anything like me, Penimiyus HaTorah (the inner dimension of Torah) has an answer.
Books (and Blogposts) Without End
Long ago, Shlomo Hamelech (King Solomon) cautioned against information intoxication when he said, “beware of books without end.” (Ecclesiastes 12:12) The trouble with endless books – or blogposts, for that matter – is that they leave us feeling inundated with the types of facts and figures that, all too often, misdirect our attention.
Having been introduced to new information, instead of focusing on the quality of our potential transformation, we end up obsessing over the quantity of articles read, grade point averages, IQ levels, or other matters of numerical consequence. To be sure, although Judaism accords a measure of primacy to Torah study,[ii] it nevertheless identifies first and foremost as a religion-of-transformation through action.[iii]
In an age of information gluttony, galvanized by an open invitation to the world-wide-smorgasbord of abstract data, a paradigm shift is in order. Fortunately, a Chassidic discourse delivered by the Alter Rebbe[iv] treats us to just such an exercise in thought modification.
Writing and Etching: Superficial and Essential Inscription
Chabad Chassidus[v] distinguishes between two types of script, Kesivah (Writing) and Chakikah (Engraving), best appreciated when contrasted with one another. Both Kesivah and Chakikah are letter-based systems whereby information is transferred from one person to another; yet, the important distinction between these two methods lies in their medium of expression.
Kesivah, or writing, takes place when ink letters are superficially applied to parchment, so that, in the words of the Alter Rebbe, “the letters remain separate entities unto themselves, and are not part and parcel of the parchment.”[vi] Chakikah, or etching, on the other hand, is a more substantive form of writing, wherein the message succeeds at merging with its medium, be it stone tablets, precious metals, or – even more precious – the heart of a Jewish man, woman, or child.
What is clear from the Alter Rebbe’s discourses is that writing and etching are not limited to types of inscription, but offer two styles of study as well.[vii]
In other words, as we wade through the infinity pool of daily wisdom in the form of commentaries, books, or articles that come our way, we would do well to ask ourselves: “How can I utilize a particular teaching or insight to improve and shape my personality, rather than have it collect dust in one of the dark corners of my cluttered mind?”
In short, to engrave wisdom means refusing to suffice with the familiar, yet tiring experience of “going through” yet another article, book or essay, instead allowing it to “go through” you.
An Applied Illustration
By way of illustration, consider the average experience of a 21st century reader scrolling through a few online essays about how to improve the quality or meaningfulness of his or her life – wait…that’s us! So as long as we’re here already, let’s try to put this idea into practice.
The paragraphs below contain an elaboration on the Alter Rebbe’s notion regarding Kesivah (writing) and Chakikah (etching) as developed by the Rebbe Rasha”b, Rav Sholom DovBer[viii] and as further elucidated by the Lubavitcher Rebbe in several places.[ix] As you are studying these ideas, instead of allowing the words to passively wash over you, try using them as a craftsman’s tool, gently scraping away at your exterior, so that when you have finished reading, the ideas will not only be something that you “know,” but something that you “are.”
Two Types of Etching: the Goal and the Technique
Until now, we have neatly distinguished between two models of study: the superficiality of writing on the one hand, and the transformative nature of etching, on the other.
However, to be more precise, the Rebbe Rasha”b illustrates that there are actually two forms of engraving – one stronger than the next – and that understanding the difference between the two may actually furnish us with a lifeboat to help us escape from the previously described floodwaters of “information overload.”
The first, more intuitive type of Chakikah, is an etching which scrapes into the exterior of the stone, enabling information to merge with the writing surface. This represents the goal of engraving; namely, that the information become one with the student, as described above.
However, where the second type of etching succeeds beyond the first is in piercing through the stone surface completely, so that the letters bore through, from one side to the other. This second, more intense type of engraving reveals not only the goal of engraving, but the technique for becoming one with the knowledge as well. Through an act of complete removal of the surface medium, (in this case, our selves), we have become entirely one with the message.[x]
Self-Transcendence through Action: a Cure for Information Overload
It is for this reason that the word Chakikah, etching, shares its root with the word Chok, super-rational law. Having chipped away at our ego so that it is no longer part of the equation, we may experience bittul, nullification, and are then able to self-transcend. It is in this state that our will and action can become one with Hashem’s, so that “His Will becomes our will,”[xi] and even those commandments whose rationale escapes our limited grasp take on new and profound meaning.
We must carefully consider this lesson, ensuring that the Torah becomes, in our eyes, neither dry lifeless matter, nor a tumultuous flood, but rather, living waters from which to drink deeply, as we become imbued with its spirit and transfixed by its message.
Concluding Thoughts
The prophet Yechezkel (Ezekiel) records that in the times of Moshiach, Hashem has promised to remove our “heart of stone.”[xii] As we continue to study Penimiyus HaTorah, we continue to etch. And as we continue to etch, we join Hashem in fulfilling this prophecy, as, piecemeal, we remove our hearts of stone – one idea at a time. In closing, there is only one thing I ask: don’t let this be just another essay or article you have read, engrave it onto (and through!) your very heart and soul.
[i] See Lekkutei Sichos Vol. XVI, p. 42 where the Rebbe quotes the Zohar I:116b, that this verse is an allusion to the explosion of wisdom which will take place in the 600th year of the sixth millennium, roughly 5600 (1840 C.E.)—an era which saw the simultaneous rise of the lower waters (the industrial and technological revolutions), and the higher waters, Penimiyus HaTorah. The Alter Rebbe, passed away in 1812, having successfully set the stage for the impending revolution. See Toras Sholom p. 237 where Rav Sholom DovBer records in the name of the Tzemach Tzedek that the Alter Rebbe’s works, Torah Or and Lekkutei Torah were printed in the years 5597 and 5608 respectively, marking the breakthrough of the holy flood waters of Penimiyus HaTorah in general and Chassidus in particular as a harbinger of Toras Moshiach and the initial fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 11:9, “For the land shall be full of knowledge of the Lord as water covers the sea bed.”
[ii] In a Sicha to Parshas Vayakel (See Lekkutei Sichos Vol. VI, pp. 216-217), the Rebbe gently reminds us that “while spending one’s energy on trying to turn this world into a dwelling place for Hashem is exalted work, it does not negate the commandment and notion of Torah study, which is the greatest mitzvah.” The Rebbe’s own life is a testament to the possibility of striking this balance, as, by way of personal example, he has taught us to excel at being deeply involved in fixing the world and, at the same time, not compromising on excellence in Torah scholarship.
[iii] Once, after having inquired after the welfare of a struggling visitor’s religious observance, and receiving the evasive answer, “Ah Yid tracht – a Jew thinks,” the Rebbe rejoindered, “But Judaism is not about thinking, it is about doing.” See Bava Kama 17a and Kiddushin 40b, that “Great is study for it leads to action.” In Penimiyus HaTorah, this dictum is read without an apostrophe, so as to imply: “Great is [the type of] study, which leads to action.” See Tanya (beginning of Chapter 36, amongst other places), that the gradual descent of the various Worlds serves to create, through action, a dwelling place for Hashem in this physical world.
[iv] Lekkutei Torah, Bechukosai 45a. See as well, the first discourse to Parshas Chukas 56a.
[v] See the above noted discourses.
[vi] In the original, “אשר האותיות הם מהות בפני עצמן ולא מעצמיות הקלף הם”.
[vii] See Lekkutei Sichos Vol. 3, p. 1013, where the Rebbe writes: “The Alter Rebbe, in Lekkutei Torah, explains that ‘Bechukosai’ comes from a language of ‘Chakikah-engraving,’ and that the verse alludes to diligent study of Torah, which needs to be in a way of etching.”
[viii] See the Rebbe Rashab’s discourse to Parshas Nasso, d”H Ein Omdin in Yom Tov Shel Rosh Hashana (Hemshech 5666).
[ix] Lekkutei Sichos Vol. VIII, p. 127-129.
[x] The oft stated paraphrase of the Zohar that “The Holy One, the Jewish People and the Torah are all One” is certainly apt here. Just as “Hashem is One with His knowledge,” so too must every student become one with his knowledge, to the best of his ability (see Rambam, Yesodei Hatorah 2:10, as well as Tanya, Chapter 2 amongst many other citations there).
[xi] A paraphrase of Avos (2:4).
[xii] See Ezekiel (11:19, 36:26).
So too with each individual Jew. Each person has the perception of his individual, independent being which stands on its own, in addition to the depth of his essence, in which he is understood to represent a spark from the light of the Shechinah, a limb and a cell in the great body that is the collective Jewish nation.
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