Torah of the Heart

"In order for one to receive proper Torah instruction, one must also experience it as the vibrant Living Soul that it is. Torah learning that is exclusively academic, placing facts and information into the intellect alone, is not Torah experience. Torah learning that is true is experienced; it is known within the heart, the deepest place of knowing within the human experience.

"When Torah is received within, one ponders its meaning with a sense of familiarity. When one learns Torah in one's heart, one has a feeling that the Torah learned is nothing new, but rather something that one has always known and is now just being able to be put into words or another more familiar form.

"True Torah learning is nothing new; it is merely an awakening of something very, very old that is lying deep within us, waiting to be awakened. The sleeper must awaken. One must cultivate remembering the inner Torah that one already has within. Only when the inner Torah is recognized will the external Torah be understood properly. This is the nature of Living Torah, also known as the Indwelling Presence, the Shekhinah."

-- Ariel bar Tzadok, Walking in the Fire