Philippe Chouraki

Torah Mora Philippe Chouraki

To Jews, the first five books of the Old Testament-The Torah-is "the law," God's direct communication to Moses about the origins of the world, man's place in it, and how we should live. Non-Jews may not recognize the name Torah, but as the basis of both the Christian Bible and of Judeo-Christian culture, the stories, scenarios and commandments of Torah have a profound archetypal influence on the worldview and daily experience of most westerners. The thesis of Torah Mora makes Torah the "emotional DNA" God provided for our use and benefit. Just as DNA instructs the body on its proper functioning, Torah instructs us on how to function emotionally within ourselves, our relationships and society-and gives us a deep view into how the universe functions as well. For example the Hebrew word for love: ohev (alef he bet) is very similar to the word for father (alef bet) and to enemy (alef youd bet). If we assume a logical pattern behind Torah's words and letters we can deduce that love is simply a parental energy with the letter he added, and that an enemy is a parental energy with the letter youd added. In looking across Torah at how the letters he and youd consistently function, we find that he often signifies the larger universe outside the self, while youd denotes the individual's inner consciousness. Hence, love is a fatherly energy that is supported and upheld by the outer universe, while an enemy is a paternalizing person whose dominance is upheld only by his own inner drive.