Before and after each portion of the Torah reading, we recite blessings of great depth and meaning.
The blessing before the reading begins with a call to prayer, “barchu et ad-nai hamevorach” “Bless G-d who is to be blessed” to which the congregation responds “Blessed is G-d who is to be blessed forever and ever.”
These are the same words that begin the shacharit and maariv (morning and evening) services. They mark the border between regular time and sacred time. At the beginning of services, they mark the transition to a state of prayer. Here, at the beginning of the Torah reading, we mark the transition to a state of revelation. By “going up” (which is what “aliyah” means) we are following in the footsteps of Moses our teacher, going up Mt. Sinai.
In the continuation of the blessing, we bless G-d who “chose us from among all nations” to give us the Torah. This underscores what the “chosenness” of the “chosen people” is all about. It’s not a matter of prestige or superiority. It’s a matter of responsibility. We are meant to be representatives of the values of the Torah. That’s all we’re chosen for! (And Mayor Ed Koch’s classic question comes to mind: “How we doin’?” Not particularly well, I think. We’ve got work to do.)
The whole concept of “chosenness” has come under attack in modern times. It is used by anti-Semites to condemn “Jewish arrogance;” equally important, it has come under attack by certain Jewish leaders as profoundly “undemocratic.” But the historical reality is that the Torah was indeed given only to us. And for almost 2,000 years, we were the only people on the planet who had a relationship with the One and Only G-d. That is not a fact to be ignored, by us or by anyone else.
Finally, at the end of the blessing before the reading, we say, “Blessed are you G-d who gives the Torah.” (“notein hatorah”). Note the tense: gives the Torah, not who gave the Torah. The Torah reading that follows is not meant to be the recitation of an old revelation. It is meant to be, itself, a new revelation, a revelation in our own time. Of course, the words are old (roughly 3,000 years old, in fact). But the meaning is new and different, because our circumstances are new and different, and we are hearing it with today’s ears, not the way we would have heard it 2,000 years or even 2 days ago.
To underscore the point, the Torah is kept closed until this blessing is recited. As it is recited, the person reciting the blessing lifts the handles of the Torah, as if receiving them into his/her hands, and, at the conclusion of the blessing, opens the Torah for reading, as if it is being revealed for the very first time.
Because it is.