Closer Than We Think — What Torah Is Trying to Make of Us - Nesavim

 As we approachRosh Hashanah, we naturally begin thinking about what needs fixing. Themistakes we need to correct. The habits we need to break. The parts ofourselves that still need work. But what if that is only half the story? Whatif Torah was not given merely to make us less bad, but to help usdiscover how much greater we are capable of becoming?  Inthis morning’s Breakfast & Class,we explore a remarkable teaching of Rabbi Frand built around the words לֹא בַשָּׁמַיִם הִוא — “It is not inHeaven.” Why did HaShemcreate us unfinished? Why does the Torah hide an allusion to milahinside the words “Who will ascend for us to Heaven?” And if the angels have noyetzer hara, why did theywant the Torah? The answers lead to a beautiful message for these final days ofElul: HaShemgave us wheat and asks us to make bread. He did not create us finished—Hecreated us with the extraordinary ability to become.