Timeless Torah

You’re a teacher, perhaps a parent, and your pupils or children are eagerly awaiting your distribution of their rewards. Several methods of allocation are available to you; one based upon age, merit, seniority, or effort. Of course there is always the haphazard determinant of picking a number.
In this week’s Biblical reading G-d informs Moses to apportion shares of the Promised Land by way of a lottery. A lottery, like picking a number out of a hat seems grossly unfair. A larger family should receive a greater portion otherwise disproportionate allotments would be the result. Which raises the question; why use a random system of distribution?
The Rebbe explains that certain entities like the Land of Israel, the Torah itself, or the Temple in Jerusalem belong to the entire Jewish people. The Torah, for example, is seen as having three distinct relationships with the Jewish nation.
a) The Torah is considered our inheritance, as the Bible states, “The Torah... is the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob.”
b) Torah is something we acquired as the Talmud states, “G-d said, ‘I have sold you the Torah.’”
c) We received the Torah. It is a gift. As the Sages declared, “G-d gave the Jewish people three fine gifts... Torah, the land of Israel and the World to Come.”
That the Torah can be deemed an inheritance, a purchase and a gift, all at the same time refers to various aspects of Torah.
A family inheritance, where the property automatically goes from one generation to the next, does not take into account the qualities or worthiness of the individual receiving the legacy. Young or old, competent or not, the child succeeds the parent. In contrast, an object waiting to be sold has no predestined buyer. In this instance, the purchaser must be willing to expend effort and resources.
While these two differ in the above-mentioned issue, they do share a point of commonality. Both heir and buyer have a prior connection to the object received; an inheritor is related to the legator who owned the item previously, while a purchaser desired the article enough to want to pay for it.
This is not so however in regards to a gift. There the recipient may have never heard of, or seen the present which may be solely an expression of the giver’s largesse.
Torah in relation to our people has all three dimensions. First and foremost, every Jew from the moment they are born inherits Torah. In fact, each Jew obtains an equal share of Torah, irrespective of their study and loyalty to Torah, Their unwillingness to reap its rewards or to enjoy its spiritual bounty does not dispossess them of their rightful heritage.
The second aspect of Torah, that it is something that can be acquired in exchange for what you are willing to pay - is the Torah that we procure through effort and study. In regard to this level of Torah differences between those individuals who pay more (i.e., study more, etc.) versus those who do less, will obviously exist.
Torah's third character trait of being a Divine gift is to be found in those areas of Torah that are beyond man's limited abilities to grasp. As such, they must be presented to us by Heaven. In this category, the Torah we receive is infinite, unencumbered by human boundaries.
This third level of Torah is also referred to as a “lot.” This is akin to a gift which wholly depends on the giver; so too the outcome of a lottery is strictly G-d's choice.
There are those who argue that Israel belongs to us by way of inheritance. Others claim a right to the soil because it is soaked with their sweat and blood. Today's Bible episode reminds us th