Soul Sketches
First One Comes Out Tomorrow!
Soul Sketches is a new series I’m doing on XL in a totally new style focusing on a fresh topic:
The people of the Torah.
A “Soul Sketch” is a term I coined to refer to a short, written insight into what made a particular individual in the Torah a unique, eternal archetype who is as relevant in 2024 CE as he or she was in 2024 BCE.
My idea is not to paint an exhaustive portrait of every detail of these characters’ lives and their life lessons. Nor is my intent to do the opposite by oversimplifying them into cartoonish caricatures. Instead, I want to try to do is sketch them with a few carefully chosen lines in a way that hopefully get help you think about them in a new way.
People tend to categorize other people and put them in clunky boxes. “He’s a jerk.” “She’s super smart.” “He’s SO funny!” “She’s very serious.” You’ve probably experienced an “Aha Moment” with someone you know. You thought you had them figured out, and then something happened allowing you to see them for who they are. You see them deeper, more multi-faceted and layered. They shine brighter as you appreciate that there is no one like them. This is their spiritual light.
I do not want to put anyone in a box, let alone these Biblical giants. Rather, I want to provide a window through which you can catch a glimpse at their light, which I have found invaluable for illuminating the depth and nuances of our often confused modern lives.
Soul Sketches was inspired by the mystical idea of the “Ushpizin,” the guests, who visit our Sukkot, so to speak, one on each night: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, Joseph, and David.
For me, the seven unique guests of Sukkot highlight a unique aspect of Judaism. Most religions I can think of have a “main character,” a singular protagonist whom the followers of that religion should emulate (think: Jesus, Mohammad, Buddha). This is consistent with the ubiquitous notion of “the hero” in ancient legends. The Torah breaks this pattern by introducing us to nearly 3,000 named characters without explicitly telling the reader if a given character is a hero or villain. It seems to do the opposite, actually. The individuals whom Jewish tradition understands to be righteous are the ones most scrutinized by the Torah. On the other hand, the “bad guys” seem to be dealt with more generously by the text (as we’ll see in this series). And then, there are “gray” characters who are neither hero nor villain, but occupy lots of air time, leaving us scratching our heads as to what we’re supposed to make of them.
What is the meaning of the diverse cast of characters that span the Torahverse?
The word “Torah-תורה” means teaching. The common denominator between the “heroes,” “villains” and “gray” characters is that they can teach us about how to live our lives better. Some teach us what to do, some teach us what not to do, and some teach us about the dilemmas of being torn between both sides.
There’s a further point that must be mentioned. The Torah doesn’t present one formula for how to live our lives precisely because we are each so different. Everyone can and should learn from everyone, but also every person resonates with someone different, hence, the multi-colored pantheon of personalities that inhabit the Torahverse.
Ready for Soul Sketches?
I hope so because here we go…
The first Soul Sketch will be of a man named Adam-אדם — or rather “The Man,” the prototype of humanity and tragic figure with the fate of the entire universe riding on his shoulders.