Today is a day of immense joy. We celebrate the gift of the Torah: we dance with it, we embrace it, we kiss it, we hold it close to our hearts, and we rejoice in having completed its reading cycle once again, only to begin anew with renewed gratitude.
A few days ago, in a conversation, someone told me with conviction that the Torah is no longer valid, that today we live solely under “grace.” Those words resonated deeply within my heart.
Today, as the Jewish world joyfully celebrates the Sefer Torah, a yearning arises within me to share with you why the Torah never ceased to be binding. True Divine grace did not come to abolish the Creator’s instruction, but to reveal it.
The Torah is humanity’s moral roadmap, the foundation of modern justice, and the purest expression of God’s care and mercy for our daily lives.
Below, I invite you to explore several fundamental aspects of the Torah that not only remain with us today, but also sustain the health of our bodies, the peace of our homes, and the order of our society:
The 13 Pillars of the Torah
1. Absolute Monotheism: One God and True Freedom
The Divine Text:
“I am the Lord your God […] You shall have no other gods before Me.” — Exodus 20:2-3
And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars […] you be drawn away and worship them… which the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples… but you the Lord has taken…” — Deuteronomy 4:19-20
The Framework for Life: By proclaiming One Single Creator, the Torah liberated us from worshipping the created. The stars and the forces of nature fulfill their cycle for the world, but Israel connects directly with the King of the Universe.
Today’s Perspective: Modern science recognizes how materialism and a blind reliance on visible things generate anxiety. Worshipping money, fame, or power is a new form of slavery; serving the One God is true mental and spiritual freedom.
Immense Mercy: The Creator needs nothing from us, yet He gave us this commandment so that we do not live in fear of false idols or external forces.
2. Marriage: The Sacred Covenant (Adam and Eve)
The Divine Text:
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” — Genesis 2:24
The Framework for Life: Before constructing laws or cities, the Eternal created the family. The bond between a man and a woman is not a mere formality, but the original home where life is nurtured and love is strengthened.
Today’s Perspective: Human psychology confirms that emotional stability and genuine commitment within the home are the greatest remedies against loneliness, stress, and depression.
Immense Mercy: In a world of fragile and fleeting relationships, the Torah gifts us marriage as a sanctuary of loyalty, where two souls walk together in blessing.
3. Honoring Parents: The Commandment with a Promise
The Divine Text:
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” — Exodus 20:12
The Framework for Life: It is the sacred bridge between generations. Honoring those who gave us life preserves the memory, identity, and values that sustain us.
Today’s Perspective: Gerontology and preventive medicine demonstrate that cultures that care for and integrate their elderly suffer less from social isolation and maintain significantly stronger community mental health.
Immense Mercy: It is the only commandment that promises a long and fulfilling life, because whoever learns to express gratitude to their human parents learns to connect with gratitude toward the Heavenly Father.
4. Social Justice and Immense Mercy
Divine Text:
“For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land.'” — Deuteronomy 15:11
Current Legal Framework: This precept is the direct ancestor of modern social welfare systems, public assistance laws, unemployment protection, and the civic responsibility to subsidize the vulnerable.
Scientific Perspective: Current psychology and neuroscience have proven that the act of giving and community solidarity activate neuronal circuits of well-being (such as the release of oxytocin and dopamine), reduce cortisol (stress), and strengthen the immune system of both the individual and the collective.
Immense Mercy: The Torah does not frame aiding the poor as an optional act of charity, but as an obligation of justice (Tzedakah). The Eternal teaches us that the world’s resources belong to all, and that opening our hand to the needy is a reflection of Divine compassion upon Creation.
5. Civil Liability and Compensation for Harm
The Divine Text:
“When men quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist […] if he rises again and walks outside on his staff, then he who struck him shall be clear; only he shall pay for the loss of his time, and shall have him thoroughly healed.” — Exodus 21:18-19
Current Legal Framework: This is the historical foundation of modern Civil Tort Law. Today, courts worldwide require compensation for lost wages (loss of earning capacity) and full coverage of medical expenses for victims of assault or accidents.
Scientific Perspective: Legal medicine and physical rehabilitation show that a patient’s comprehensive recovery depends not only on medical treatment, but also on financial and mental peace of mind during their period of rest.
Immense Mercy: Divine Law does not seek vengeance or excessive punishment, but fair restitution. It values human health and time as sacred assets that must be restored by the one who caused the harm.
6. The Sanctuary of Time: The Rest of Shabbat
The Divine Text:
“Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy […] you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant… that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.” — Deuteronomy 5:12-14
Current Legal Framework: Contemporary labor laws that guarantee a 5- or 6-day workweek, mandatory days off, and limits on overwork (burnout) derive directly from this mandate.
Scientific Perspective: Chronobiology and sleep medicine confirm that the human body requires periodic cycles of biological and mental disconnection for cellular regeneration, hormonal regulation, and the prevention of cardiovascular disease.
Immense Mercy: Shabbat democratized rest. In the ancient world, only kings rested; the Torah commanded that servants, strangers, and even beasts of burden had the right to pause and hold dignity.
7. Bodily Health and Respect for Biology (Kashrut)
The Divine Text:
“To make a distinction between the unclean and the clean and between the living creature that may be eaten and the living creature that may not be eaten.” — Leviticus 11:47
Current Legal Framework: This forms the conceptual basis of modern sanitary regulations, food safety laws, and quality control within the food industry (FDA, hygiene standards).
Scientific Perspective: Many animals restricted by the Torah are known epidemiological vectors (carriers of parasites such as trichinella, marine toxins, or zoonotic diseases). Modern nutrition supports the importance of selecting foods that do not cause internal inflammation or disrupt the gut microbiome.
Immense Mercy: Caring for what enters the body is an act of preserving life (Pikuach Nefesh). The Torah teaches us that the body is the temple of the soul and that physical health is essential to fulfilling our spiritual purpose.
8. The Rest of the Land (Shmita) and Soil Health
The Divine Text:
“For six years you shall sow your land and gather in its yield, but the seventh year you shall let it rest and lie fallow, that the poor of your people may eat; and what they leave the beasts of the field may eat…” — Exodus 23:10-11 / Leviticus 25:1–7
Current Legal Framework: This is the historical foundation for international regulations on sustainable agriculture, soil conservation laws, and crop rotation policies to prevent desertification.
Scientific Perspective:
Soil Depletion: Modern agronomy confirms that intensive monoculture farming depletes the soil’s natural nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and beneficial microbiota).
The Chemical Trap: As the land loses its natural vitality, the industrial model forces production through synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and growth regulators. Clinical trials and toxicological studies have repeatedly shown that many of these chemical compounds (such as glyphosate and organophosphates) induce cellular mutations and tumor development in laboratory animal models. If they disrupt the cellular biology of an animal in an experiment, their accumulation in the human food chain poses a direct risk to public health.
Immense Mercy and Ecological Connection: The Torah understood that the earth is not an infinite production machine, but a living entity that requires rest. The Eternal commanded the Shmita not only to regenerate topsoil and protect the consumer, but also as an act of social justice: during the seventh year, the land has no owner, and its produce is free for the poor, the stranger, and wildlife.
9. Presumption of Innocence and Due Process
The Divine Text:
“On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.” — Deuteronomy 17:6
“You shall not utter a false report. Do not join hands with a wicked man to be a malicious witness.” — Exodus 23:1
Current Legal Framework: This is the cornerstone of modern Criminal Law: the presumption of innocence, due process, and the prohibition of defamation or public lynching.
Scientific Perspective: Legal psychology and procedural sociology have shown that rushed judgments, “cancel culture,” and uncorroborated single testimonies fracture communities and result in irreversible, erroneous convictions.
Immense Mercy: The Torah protects an individual’s reputation and life from the abuse of power or collective hysteria, demanding absolute rigor before judging a fellow human being.
10. Psychological and Emotional Protection of the Worker
The Divine Text:
“You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy… You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets, for he is poor and counts of it…” — Deuteronomy 24:14-15
Current Legal Framework: Labor protection laws, minimum wage, timely payment, and the rights of independent contractors and freelancers.
Scientific Perspective: Organizational psychology studies show that financial uncertainty regarding compensation for completed work triggers severe anxiety spikes, disrupts household stability, and erodes an individual’s engagement with society.
Immense Mercy: The Torah does not merely ensure payment; it demands empathy for the worker’s peace of mind, understanding that for the humble, daily bread depends on the promptness of the employer.
11. Health Prevention and Quarantine
The Divine Text:
“He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease… He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.” — Leviticus 13:46
“He shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in fresh water, and he shall be clean.” — Leviticus 15:13
Current Legal Framework: This represents history’s first formal legislation regarding public health, epidemiology, isolation of contagious diseases, and mandatory hygiene.
Scientific Perspective: Modern infectiology recognizes that thousands of years before the discovery of bacteria and viruses by Pasteur and Koch, the Torah was already applying the most effective medical techniques against epidemic spread: handwashing, fluid management, and preventive isolation.
Immense Mercy: Safeguarding community health is a supreme act of collective responsibility. Isolation was not a punishment, but a protection of life for the entire nation.
12. Empathy for the Stranger and the Prohibition of Xenophobia
The Divine Text:
“You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” — Leviticus 19:34
Current Legal Framework: International Refugee Law, universal Human Rights, and migrant integration standards.
Scientific Perspective: Immigration sociology demonstrates that societies that ethically integrate foreigners strengthen their genetic, economic, and cultural diversity, whereas xenophobia fragments the social fabric and generates structural violence.
Immense Mercy: This is the most repeated commandment in the entire Torah (appearing over 36 times). The memory of our own pain in Egypt becomes the driving force to avoid repeating cruelty toward those who arrive unprotected in our land.
13. Animal Welfare (Tza’ar Ba’alei Chayim)
The Divine Text:
“If you come across a bird’s nest along the way… you shall not take the mother with the young; you shall let the mother go…” — Deuteronomy 22:6-7
“You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” — Deuteronomy 25:4
Current Legal Framework: Laws against animal cruelty and environmental legislation protecting biodiversity.
Scientific Perspective: Ethology and neurobiology have proven that vertebrate animals possess sensitivity to pain, stress, and emotional suffering. Furthermore, behavioral science shows that cruelty to animals often leads to cruelty toward human beings.
Immense Mercy: Divine compassion encompasses all of His creatures. If the Torah cares for the sensitivity of a bird or the fatigue of a working ox, it teaches us to cultivate a refined heart incapable of cruelty.
If Moses were to speak to us today, he would tell us that the Torah did not remain at Mount Sinai nor in the desert sands; the Torah walks within our laws, our hospitals, our tables, and in the way we look upon those who suffer.
As we embrace V’Zot HaBerachah and begin anew with Bereshit, we are not reading an ancient history book: we are opening the roadmap to building a just, healthy society filled with the infinite mercy of the Eternal.
