Dr. Charles W. Eliot, longtime president of Harvard University, believed that ordinary people who read consistently from the world’s great literature for even a few minutes a day could gain a valuable education. In 1910, he compiled selections from books of history, science, philosophy, and fine art into fifty volumes called The Harvard Classics. Each set of books included Dr. Eliot’s Reading Guide titled “Fifteen Minutes A Day” containing recommended selections of eight to ten pages for each day of the year.
What if we spent
fifteen minutes a day reading the Torah? We could say with the psalmist, “Turn
my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away
from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word” (Ps.
119:36–37).
Now would be a perfect
time to begin reading the Torah. On Simkhat Torah, Sunday, October 4th,
we shall finish the last chapter of Deuteronomy and begin the first chapter of
Genesis. By reading one aliyah a day you can finish the entire parasha whether
or not you come to shul on Shabbat. I would also encourage you to pick up a
commentary like our Humash, Etz Hayyim to enhance your understanding and
enjoyment of the Torah reading.
Fifteen minutes a day
adds up to ninety-one hours a year. But for whatever amount of time we decide
to read the Torah each day, consistency is the secret and the key ingredient is
not perfection but persistence. If we miss a day or a week, we can start
reading again. “Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it
to the end” (v. 33).
Shabbat shalom and
Chag Samayakh,
Rabbi Greene
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