Timeless Torah

There was a time, in my youth and naiveté that I believed that merely opening a Jewish book one would be more than sufficient to fulfill my obligation to learn Hashem’s Torah. After all, how much could G-d expect from my tired brain and thick skull…

There was a time, in my youth and naiveté that I believed that merely opening a sefer (a Jewish book one could study) would be more than sufficient to fulfill my obligation to learn Hashem’s Torah. After all, how much could G-d expect from my tired brain and thick skull; especially after a hard day’s work when I was already racking my mind helping my children with their homework. Did I now have to worry about my own?

But then I discovered that mere perusing of some holy Jewish books wasn’t going to cut it. Instead, what I was being asked to do (based upon the first verse of this week’s second reading) was nothing less than, “B’chukosai tailaichu - to toil in Torah.” I don’t know about you, but it seemed to me that keeping my eyes open at the end of the day was toil enough. Could there be some alternate meaning? There had to be.

Enter the commentaries which are filled with thoughts, reflections and ingenuous possibilities. Literally, as our Rabbis point out, the word tailaichu means to walk. Translated thus, the verse now reads, “If with my commandment (to toil in Torah) you will walk.”

What is meant by this “walking”? One explanation is that the pursuit of Torah guarantees that it will walk with the individual, accompanying him to his reward in the next world. Another idea is that man, unlike the animal kingdom, has the ability to change himself and improve. Our verse then comes to reveal the secret of what gives man this ability to forge on ahead and progress. It is the mental effort expended in Torah. Toil in it, study it hard and then you will walk, you will grow and improve.

Another fascinating insight considers the goal of Torah upon the human being studying it. It is not enough to learn ones Biblical or Talmudic lessons in school, review it, and finally receive good marks on the test. What G-d demands is that the Torah and its values accompany us even after one has left the confines of his Yeshiva or home environment. That is what the Bible expects of us...“with my commandments, you will walk!” You will take what you studied and all of the morals with you. You will behave according to the same standard when you are on your own, as you did when your teacher stood over you. In other words, what is the real test of truly toiling and absorbing My Torah, says G-d? “If, with my commandments, you will walk!”

After hearing all of these varying suggestions, one realizes they are all interconnected. If you toil in Torah, you will move forward and grow spiritually. And if you allow Torah to walk with you and guide you in this world, it will pave the way for you to reach the next world.
Of course, there are those who object to a reward that can only be enjoyed after 120 years, by a disembodied soul perched in the upper recesses of Gan Eden. Why, they want to know, can’t the pleasures accrued by our toil be accessed in this lifetime? This question is obviously not new. And neither is the answer.

Several students of the Chofetz Chaim once approached their Rebbe. They were very poor and had come to offer a desperate solution. “We are willing to forego a small amount of the reward for our Torah study in the next world. Let the Almighty instead alleviate our difficult predicament by paying us a little earlier in this world.”
The Chafetz Chaim answered with a parable. When one is buying a $7 item, one could expect to get change from a $10 bill. But to break a $100 bill to pay for a $4 item would raise an eyebrow. Now imagine trying to use a million dollar check to pay for a piece of gum. Impossible! You simply would not break such a large denomination for such a small purchase.

The eternal reward for toiling in Torah, an act of connection between man and G-d, is so colossal that it can’t be broken to pay off a couple of inconsequential, trivial coins in this world. It is solely because of the unlimited nature of the reward awaiting us that it can’t be paid in dribs and drabs in this world!

So no longer will I yawn as I barely glance at the words of Divine wisdom contained in the writings of our Sages. How can I? It’s my map for safe and productive living in this world and my passport to the next.