Every week, Julie Seltzer, artist and Torah scribe, bakes a challah depicting an aspect of the week’s Torah portion.
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It is not in heaven…Neither is it beyond the sea…For the word is very close to you, in your mouth, and in your heart, that you can do it. (Deuteronomy 30:12-14)
לא בַשָמַים הִיא… וְלא-מֵעֵבֶר לַיָּם, הִוא… כִּי-קָרוֹב אֵלֶיךָ הַדָּבָר, מְאד: בְּפִיךָ וּבִלְבָבְךָ, לַעֲשׂתוֹ
“It is not in heaven” is often quoted to mean that how we do Jewish is up to us, not God, to decide. In the context of the Torah, however, it means that torah is not far away or incomprehensible. The torah is already inside of us. The challah that you see here are: A person in a hot air balloon, and a person in a ship, mistakenly searching in a far-off place for the torah.
challah
Pronounced: KHAH-luh, Origin: Hebrew, ceremonial bread eaten on Shabbat and Jewish holidays.
Torah
Pronunced: TORE-uh, Origin: Hebrew, the Five Books of Moses.
