## Rabbi Sacks on Yom Kippur Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings over the Torah

###### Rabbi Sacks on Yom Kippur Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings over the Torah 1
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**English Edition; Koren Publishers Jerusalem, 2017:**
BLESSINGS OVER THE TORAH
In Judaism, Torah study is the highest of all spiritual engagements, higher even than prayer (*Shabbat* 10a), for in prayer we speak to God but in Torah study we listen to God speaking to us, through the sacred texts of our tradition. Judaism is supremely a religion of study. Hence we preface prayer with an act of Torah study.
There are three types of Torah study: (1) study in order to know what to do, (2) study as a substitute for rituals that we are unable to perform, most notably the sacrifices, and (3) study as a religious act for its own sake, an aligning of our intellect with the mind of God.


###### Rabbi Sacks on Yom Kippur Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings over the Torah 3
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**English Edition; Koren Publishers Jerusalem, 2017:**
בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה…אֲשֶׁר בָּֽחַר בָּֽנוּ *Blessed are You…who has chosen us.* Unlike the previous blessing, which is one of the *birkhot hamitzvot*, blessings over a command, this is a *birkat hoda’a*, a blessing of thanks and acknowledgment.


###### Rabbi Sacks on Yom Kippur Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings over the Torah 4
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**English Edition; Koren Publishers Jerusalem, 2017:**
יְבָרֶכְךָ יהוה *May the*LORD*bless you.* According to the sages (*Kiddushin* 30a), one should divide one’s study time into three: (1) *Mikra*, study of the written Torah; (2) *Mishna*, study of the Oral Torah; (3) *Talmud*, that is, the logic of the Oral Law (Maimonides, Laws of Torah Study 1:11).
So here, “May the LORD bless you” is a passage from the Torah (Num. 6:24–26); אֵֽלּוּ דְבָרִים שֶׁאֵין לָהֶם שִׁעוּר, “These are the things for which there is no fixed measure,” is a passage from the Mishna (*Pe’ah* 1:1); and אֵֽלּוּ דְבָרִים שֶׁאָדָם אוֹכֵל פֵּרוֹתֵיהֶם בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה, “These are the things of which a man enjoys the fruits in this life” is a teaching from the Talmud (*Shabbat* 127a).


###### Rabbi Sacks on Yom Kippur Mahzor, Shaharit, Blessings over the Torah 6
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**English Edition; Koren Publishers Jerusalem, 2017:**
וְתַלְמוּד תּוֹרָה כְּנֶֽגֶד כֻּלָּם *The study of Torah is equal to them all*. There was a debate among the sages as to which is greater, learning or doing? The conclusion was that “Great is learning, for it leads to doing” (*Kiddushin* 40b).