Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 64

Why Is it Forbidden to Read the Torah as a Historical Story? Why Is “Do Not Make for Yourself a Graven Image or Any Likeness” the Most Severe Prohibition in the Torah?

If we imagine corporeality instead of spirituality, then we cannot attain spirituality. This causes no harm to the Creator, or to the world, but we remain at the animalistic degree reading the Torah as if it were a novel. That is the reason for this prohibition. It is why there is an obligation to view the Torah as the names of the Creator, as solely this approach leads us to the goal.

Moses wrote the Torah in the form of a story because he had no other language that could convey the meaning he wanted to express. All other forms of writing (Haggadah, Midrash, Halacha, and the language of Kabbalah) make it much harder, almost impossible, to articulate all the nuances and details Moses sought to express. Therefore, he used the language of stories and metaphors.

Related Material:
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 63
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 62
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 61

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