Truth itself is conceived by a thousand thinkers in a thousand different ways. To neglect its pursuit is, after all, only a sin against oneself, and, therefore, one can only be accountable to oneself. For to whom would I owe an accounting, if this principle only demands the promotion of the happiness and perfection of others as a means of attaining my own, and I relinquish this? How I would ask you, is it with the multitude of unhappy and imperfect ones outside of Judaism?
But I will omit all these questions. Let us put aside for a while the standard of measurement, and let us try to know that which we desire to measure — Judaism, in its history and teachings. Perhaps, on the way, we may learn to think differently concerning the destiny of mankind, and may obtain a different mode of discerning the purpose of the existence of the nations, and their duties. But we must become acquainted with it from the source which it itself points out to us; which it has rescued from the wreck of all its other fortunes as the only original document and source of instruction concerning its true essence—from its To-rah. Its history we must learn from it, for Judaism is an historical phenomenon, and for its origin, its first entrance into history, and for a long subsequent time, the Torah is the only monument. And if, at the cradle of this people, we were to hear mystic voices, such as no other nation ever heard — voices announcing the purpose of this people’s existence — for which it entered into history, should we not hearken to these voices, and try to comprehend them, that we might thus understand it and its history ? It is the only source of its law, written and oral.
Therefore, to the Torah! But, before we open it, let us consider how we shall read it. Not for the purpose of making philological and antiquarian investigations, nor to find support and corroboration for antediluvian or geological hypotheses, nor either in the expectation of unveiling supermundane mysteries, but as Jews must we read it — that is to say, looking upon it as a book given to us by God that we may learn from it to know ourselves — what we are, and what we should be in this our earthly existence. It must be to us Torah — that is, instruction and guidance in this divine world; a generator of spiritual life within us. Our desire is to apprehend Judaism; therefore, we must take up our position in thought within Judaism, and must ask ourselves, “What will human beings be who recognize the contents of this book as a basis and rule of life given to them by God ?” In the same way we must seek understanding of the mitzvoth, the commandments — that is to say, we must strive to know their extent and bearing from the written and oral law.
All of this must take place from the standpoint of the object of all this procedure, the finding of the true law of life. Only when you have thus comprehended Judaism from itself, as it represents itself to be, and have then found it untenable and unworthy of acceptance, may you, if you wish, cast upon it the stone of obloquy. We must also read the Torah in Hebrew — that is to say, in accordance with the spirit of that language. It describes but little, but through the rich significance of its verbal roots it paints in the word a picture of the thing. [ Nineteen letters]