Learning within Judaism is more than studying ... it is a form of worship. This just may be one of the primary differences between Judaism and other faith traditions. We have nearly 3,000 years worth of texts, layers of conversations, building upon the previous generations in order to grapple with our most sacred Scripture. For us Jews, learning is an essential part of our devotional lives. In addition to prayer, and righteous living, Judaism teaches a concept of תורה לשמה Torah Lishmah - the study of Torah for its own sake. My friend and colleage, Rabbi Carl Kinbar, recently started a new blog called, The New Messianic Jewish Learning. In his first blog post, Rabbi Kinbar explains the important difference between study and learning from a Messianic Jewish perspective:
"Let me distinguish between learning and study. Study involves the acquisition and mastery of facts and their interconnections. Because followers of Yeshua are directed to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, our learning involves more than acquisition and mastery. It involves all four faculties—heart, mind, soul, and strength—and becomes for us a consuming act of love and worship. Learning is an embodied spiritual practice that enables us to cleave to God and one another.Learning is worship. While this is no truer for Messianic Jews than for others, our years of involvement in Jewish life taught us that this view of learning is particularly Jewish. It has been carried forward by Jews for about two thousand years now. Sadly, it is not yet embedded in Messianic Jewish life, where learning is more like study, an acquiring of information (even revelation) that is necessary to walk closely with God—but not worship. The new Messianic Jewish learning insists that these writings of our people—the Tanakh, the Brit Hadashah (New Testament), midrash, Talmud, and more—are not valuable only for what they contain and describe but because they enable us to worship God specifically as Jews."
Learning within Judaism is more than studying ... it is a form of worship.
That's what I keep telling folks. While this is an exclusively Jewish viewpoint, I don't see why other religious traditions, such as Christianity, couldn't choose to make a paradigm shift and see learning in the same light. However, as your blog post states, it is more than just the acquisition of information, but a "quest" to draw closer to God.