|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Temimut Torah... |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Law of the LORD is Perfect |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
ccording to Jewish midrash, before you were born, the LORD called your soul to appear before Him and said, "After you are born, become a tzaddik (righteous person); don't become a rasha (wicked person)." Then He brought you into the world, but tested you by means of the yetzer hara -- |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
the natural inclination to be selfish and bad. You therefore entered the world incomplete, lacking the wholeness and integrity that could only be obtained by submitting yourself to His righteous will. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Learn Hebrew |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
This verse says that the Torah of the LORD is temimah, an adjective that means faultless, whole or complete (temimut is the state of being tam, meaning unblemished or defect-free). The Jewish scribal arts maintain that if a Torah scroll has a single blemished or missing letter, it is no longer |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
temimut and therefore posul (unfit) for use in services. Animal sacrifices offered at the mishkan (Tabernacle) were required to be temimah (Lev. 4:32), as was the red heifer (Num. 19:2). |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Transliteration: |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Torat Adonai temimah, meshivat nafesh. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew for Christians |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|