"Living" Torah

 In being taught the phrase "Living Torah," I seem to recall that the phrase had to do with the text itself and the ability to change it.  After all, if it's "living," then it must grow and contract and change, like a human being, if only in physical form.

Tonight, I think this may be one of those phrases that has been abused and misused since its inception.  Specifically, compare the above interpretation with what the Torah actually says in Devarim 4:2-4: "H' our G-d established with us a covenant at Chorav.  Not with our forefathers did H' establish this covenant but with us, we, those whom are here today, and all of us alive.  Face to face did H' speak with you on the mountain..."

It's such a beautiful thought, that the Torah does not belong to only those living at the time of Matan Torah, or even to the forefathers, in whose merit we constantly extol!  No, it was given with us, with those alive at that time (remember that, of course, at the time of Devarim, everyone (apparently?) who had been alive at the time of Matan Torah other than Moshe, Yehoshuva, and Calev had died and therefore there was a complete replacement of that generation by this time) - but not only that, that it is also for "all of us alive."  The distinction is important and wouldn't be made needlessly by the Torah - the difference between "those who are here today, and all of us alive."  The latter refers to every Jew who might and will be alive henceforth.  Incredible - do you see why I get the feeling that Moshe is in fact standing right in front of me and speaking to me now?

This, then, is the meaning of the Living Torah - not that it changes, G-d forbid, but that it is simply alive - alive as any other being, to be constantly turned over and turned over again, and to be passed down - an eternal life, in fact.