The final mitzvah in the Torah is in our sedra, and it is the mitzvah of writing a sefer torah. Actually, you fulfill a branch of this mitzvah by buying Jewish serafim too! Anyway, the pasuk that tells us this is ‘now write for this song and teach it to the Bnei Yisrael…’ (31;19) [sefer hachinuch]. You will notice that the Torah is called a ‘song’ (shirah) here. What is the meaning of this name? Perhaps one idea is the following: I used to walk to yeshiva, and often I would listen to music through my headpones as I walked. I noticed that I might see two people arguing with each other in the street or any other stressful sight like a major traffic jam, but because of the relaxing music in my ears it would all seem different, relaxing, and much less stressful. And the same is true now when I often listen to music on the bus; the music puts you in a different world and you look at things differently. (I am talking about relaxing Jewish music of course, not the heavy metal dustbin-banging modern noise that inexcusably passes for music nowadays!) This is an answer to our above question. The Torah is described as a ‘song’ because it gives us a completely new perspective on life. It teaches us that HaShem controls the world and everything is there for a reason. And so troubles are not really troubles, they are tests, and all is planned from Above. It is like looking at an argument whilst listening to music – it does not affect you at all for you are in a different world. This is Torah. HaShem should help us that we should appreciate His Torah and Live by It to the max!
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