Torah Versus Wisdom
If they tell you there is wisdom among other peoples, believe them.
If they tell you there is Torah among other peoples, do not believe them.
Torah, it seems, is distinct from what we generally call wisdom. Even the term “divine wisdom” is insufficient. Our universe, after all, is composed of divine wisdom—yet Torah is more than the universe. Our environment, our bodies, and even the psyche with which we observe all of these, all are of unfathomable design. “How wondrous are Your works, O YeHoVaH,” the Psalmist declares. “You made all of them with wisdom!” The opening words of the Torah, “In the beginning Elohim created …” are rendered in the Jerusalem Targum as “With wisdom did Elohim create.”The rabbis of the Talmud even taught us that the Torah is the blueprint of the universe:
The way the world works, when a mortal king builds for himself a palace, he doesn’t build it on his own accord. Rather, he builds according to the advice of an architect. As for the architect, he also does not rely on his mind alone, but he has sketches and worksheets to know how to construct the rooms and how to construct the doorways. So too, the Holy One, blessed be He, looked in the Torah and created the world.
Yet the laws of Torah are something beyond the laws of nature. So what is the difference between wisdom and Torah? The distinction is a simple one—between what is and what should be: Wisdom tells you all that the Creator created and all that could come from it. Torah tells you what the Creator desires from His creation, and how it will be achieved.For example, wisdom tells you that how you treat others is bound to come back to you. It’s up to you to decide whether you want that coming back or not.Wisdom tells you that holding on to property that doesn’t belong to you might not be a good idea—not for you nor for the people around you. But it’s up to you to decide whether or not to suffer the consequences for the sake of the immediate benefits.Torah, on the other hand, doesn’t simply inform; it instructs. The Torah is YeHoVaH, who creates the universe and sustains its existence at every moment, saying, “Whether you understand or not, whether you can justify yourself or not, don’t steal.” That’s taking a step beyond wisdom.Indeed, in many instances, the Torah will instruct you to do something that is beyond your understanding. Here again, you listen—not just because you are wise enough to know that the instructions of the One who created heaven and earth are not always going to fit into your understanding, but also because these are instructions, after all, of the Creator of heaven and earth.