Wrestling for Heaven’s Sake: The Study Room as a Battlefield of Love
Wrestling for Heaven’s Sake: The Study Room as a Battlefield of Love Inspired by Parashat Chukat and Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’ “Love in the End” “Therefore it is said in the Book of the Wars of the Lord: Waheb in Suphah…” — Numbers 21:14 What are the “Wars of the Lord” ? At first glance, it sounds like a lost chronicle of Israel’s military victories. But in Parashat Chukat , Rabbi Jonathan Sacks reads these words not literally, but literarily and spiritually . In his essay “Love in the End” , he suggests a stunning interpretation: The “Wars of the Lord” are not physical battles—but the passionate, even heated, debates among scholars in the study hall, struggling to understand God’s truth. These are not wars of hate, but of love . Not wars of ego, but of truth-seeking . Not wars to win, but to build understanding —brick by brick, argument by argument. 💡 Reframing the “Wars”: Study as Sacred Struggle Rabbi Sacks draws from Jewish tradition that celebrates disagreement ...