The question is a famous one, and a seemingly legitimate one, what is the importance of actually learning Torah? Why is studying that ancient texts so fundamental to our faith? And even more how can there be people who dedicate their lives to this mission of learning the Torah and be supported by other charitable Jews to do so?
Understanding the answer to these questions is an ‘eye opener’ in appreciating the unique bond we as Jews have with the Torah and how priceless learning Torah is.
The verse at the end of the sixth day of creation famously states “And it was evening and it was morning THE sixth day”. The emphasis of “THE” is alluded to with the extra Hebrew letter “Hay”. Rashi explains the emphasis is made through the adding of the letter “Hay” because this is referring to the fifth day of the Sivan (numerical value of the ‘hay’ is five) when the Jewish people accepted the Torah. To show that the whole creation of the world – all six days of it – was dependent on the Jewish people accepting the Torah at Sinai. Indeed the Midrash sites that prior to the Jewish people accepting the Torah at Sinai there was a deafening silence as the whole world waited with ‘baited breath’ to see if the Jewish people would accept the Torah and indeed allow for their continued existence.
In the prayer of ‘Ailu Devorim’ we say every morning, we say the following “These are the precepts whose fruits a person enjoys in this world but whose principle remains intact for him in the world to come. They are: the honor due to father and mother, acts of kindness, early attendance at the house of study morning and evening, hospitality to guests, visiting the sick, providing for a bride, escorting the dead, absorption in prayer, bringing peace between man and his pillow, and between man and his wife – and the study of Torah is equivalent to them all”.
Rabbi Aron Kotler zt”l makes the following observation, all of the above virtues are those that man excels in with regard to his fellow man, and it is about these that the Mishnah writes “the fruits a person enjoys in this world but whose principle remains intact for him in the world to come”, and yet the Mishnah finishes by saying that learning of Torah is equivalent to them all!
Asks Rabbi kotler, how can this be? The mitzvos mentioned in the Mishnah are all mitzvos that are between man and his friend, not between man and Hashem, how then can it make sense that Torah can be said to equivalent to all the above mentioned in the Mishnah, isn’t Torah a different type of mitzvah altogether, surely it is in essence a mitzvah between man and Hashem and cannot be compared to the mitzvos mentioned earlier in the mishna?
The answer in the light of what we mentioned above is, that it is a mistake to assume that learning Torah is only a mitzvah that is between man and Hashem and not classified as a mitzvah between man and his friend, because that isn’t the case, learning is every bit as much a mitzvah between man and his friend, because the learning of Torah brings blessing for all the well being of the Jewish people, therefore indeed not only is it a mitzvah that is between man and his friend it is equivalent to all the mitzvos that exist between man and his friend!
The story is told that in the early 1900’s a meeting took place in Radin the home town of the Chofetz Chaim the renowned sage Rabbi Yisroel Meir Hacohen Kagan tz”l, to raise funds for a much needed Jewish hospital suited to the Jewish needs at the time, many philanthropist were gathered there for this very worthy cause. At one point the gathered were asked to commit to donate beds for the hospital.
In the far corner of the room they were sitting sat a young man learning, one of the wealthy men gathered used this as an opportunity to ‘dig’ at this man learning who spent his days doing so, seemingly ‘not doing anything for anyone’ he said he will donate as many beds as the young man sitting there is donating, his words were greeted with laughs from those gathered.
At this point The Chofetz Chaim suddenly spoke up and said, “oh so your are donating 100 beds?” everyone sat shocked and he explained the learning Torah of this young man is a huge source of blessing for the Jewish people and for the world in general, and it is indeed the equivalent of the donation one hundred beds to the hospital by protecting those people from becoming ill to begin with!
In summary we need to have the appreciation of the power of the Torah, and it’s enormous impact it has on our everyday lives, and as a result embrace it and support it whenever you can!
Good Shabbos, Good Yom Tov, Shmuel
