My mom has a saying that I think about a lot. She refers to her outlook on life as seeing things through Torah-colored lenses. And people, all people who read the Bible, should do the same. Unlike rose-colored lenses that block your ability to see things clearly, these special Torah-colored lenses add a layer of morality and groundedness that come only from knowing the words of the Torah. Every morning, we put on these glasses.
I think that, like all prescription eyewear, some have a stronger prescription, some are lighter, but the point is that these spectacular spectacles help everyone see more clearly. Can this metaphor be extended to any other tool we use to help us function better? I think so. Is Torah insulin for the spiritually diabetic? That’s a sweet thought. Is it a hearing aid for someone hard of hearing? I hear that.
I will caution, though: these lenses are not akin to Advil. Or an antacid. You do not take this when you need it. You must wear these Torah lenses all of the time, no matter what. You need these to drive, to walk, to see, to survive, to thrive.
There’s a problem, though. What if you have spent your whole life seeing blurry, your whole life color blind, your whole life shortsighted, then how do you know you haven’t been seeing clearly all along?
This is the problem of Biblical illiteracy.
Biblical illiteracy is not simply failing to quote chapter and verse. It is growing up in a world saturated with biblical language, biblical values, and biblical promises, and having no idea where any of it comes from. It is celebrating freedom without knowing Exodus. It is speaking of justice without knowing the Prophets. It is living inside a story you have never actually read. It is hearing about the land of Israel and not knowing that it is part of your story too.
And like a chronic condition rather than an acute illness, it does not announce itself with sharp pain. It quietly shapes the way you see everything, or rather, the way you fail to see it. You do not know what you are missing. That is precisely what makes it so dangerous.
The numbers are striking. Fewer than one in five Christians has read the entire Bible. Just 41% of Americans read Scripture outside of church even three times a year. Among self-identified Christians, only 44% strongly affirm that the Bible is accurate in the principles it teaches. We are a civilization that was built on this book, and we have quietly stopped reading it.
The Torah is not a book to be consulted occasionally, the way you might check a map when you are already lost. The Torah is meant to be carried. In Deuteronomy 17, God commands the king of Israel, the most powerful person in the nation, surrounded by advisors and armies, to write his own personal copy of the Torah and keep it with him always, reading it kol yemei chayav, all the days of his life. Not when he faces a difficult decision. Not on the Sabbath. Always.
The implication is unmistakable: even a king, with all his wisdom and power, cannot afford to put the Torah down. In a democracy, every one of us holds a measure of that royal responsibility. We vote. We lead families. We shape communities. We make moral decisions every single day. Today, we are all kings, and we cannot afford to put the Torah down either.
Recently, a photograph began circulating on Israeli news sites that captures the importance of our mission to carry the Bible with us, wherever we go. An Orthodox Jewish man walks down a Jerusalem alleyway. He has a beard. He is wearing a black suit. Cradled in one arm is a sefer Torah, a Torah scroll, held the way you hold something precious and irreplaceable. In his other hand, he pulls a military kit bag. A bullet-proof vest. Gear. His weapon is slung across his chest. He is heading back to reserve duty in Lebanon. He is not going to war instead of Torah. He is not choosing between his faith and his country. He is bringing both. Because for him, they are not separate things. The Torah is not something he studies in a quiet room and sets aside when the world gets difficult. The Torah is what he carries into the difficult world.
That image is not a statement about politics or war. It is a statement about what it means to truly believe that the words of this book are not ancient. They are alive. They are necessary. They are the lens through which everything, including a war, including a world on fire, and most importantly, including your everyday, ordinary, individual lives must be seen.
Every single day, in every decision, in every moment, we are all moving through the world with something. The question is: what are you carrying? And what lenses are you wearing?”
Bible Month: A Beginning
If you are reading this and feeling the quiet ache of knowing you have not spent enough time with this book, you are not alone. More than half of all Americans say they wish they read the Bible more. The desire is there. What is often missing is the door in.
June is Bible Month, and at Israel365, we are opening that door.
Here are two ways to walk through it and I highly recommend you do both.
First, Subscribe to The Israel Bible YouTube channel and join our Bible Month Daily Challenge, launching June 1st. One new video every day for the entire month, conversations about every single book of the Bible, given by Rabbis and Pastors.
Next, sign up for Bible Plus, our premium online Bible study platform with over 200 in-depth video courses taught by experts rooted in the Land of Israel. The Bible was written in Hebrew, and every translation, no matter how good, is already one step removed from what God actually said. With Bible Plus, you are not just learning what the Bible says. You are learning what it actually means.
We are opening our Bible Month sale to our Daily Inspiration readers early.
Sign up for the Bible Plus annual subscription before May 31st, and enter the code dailyInspiration at checkout, and lock in your year for just $49.99. That is our best price ever, and this is your chance to grab it.
On Bible Plus, we add new Bible Study courses every month. Clean, beautiful video streaming. And when you sign up now, you will have full access to all of Bible Month content from day one, completely ad-free. The Bible has not changed. Your access to it just did.
The lenses are waiting. Now it’s time to put them on.
