Giving Meaning to Your Mitzvos - 021 Talmud Torah

Striving For Truthful Understanding In Our Torah Learning

The Rambam (Sefer HaMitzvos, 14) and the Sefer HaChinuch (419) both count the mitzvah of “Talmud Torah” (learning Torah) as one of the 613 mitzvos. The Sefer HaChinuch (ibid) adds on that “Great is learning Torah, for learning Torah brings one to good deeds”, and that we must also strive to understand the true meaning of Torah, for Torah is called Toras emes, the Torah of truth.

Thus, the mitzvah of learning Torah contains two aspects – we must learn Torah in order to be able to act properly, and for this reason we must really know what the Torah is saying; in addition, the Sefer HaChinuch adds on that we must know the truth of Torah.

Therefore, when we have ameilus (exertion) in our Torah learning, we need to strive to get to the truth. As Rav Chaim Volozhiner wrote, “the earlier generations’ entire praise was their sevara yesharah (straight logic)”. Each person, according to his own level, needs to understand what the Torah is saying, to be able to know what the halacha is and act properly; and in addition, a person must get to the truth of Torah as he learns in-depth.

It’s possible that a person is doing one without the other. A person might be interested in knowing what the Halacha is, but he doesn’t always seek to get to the truthful understanding. Or, maybe he wants to know what the truthful understanding is, but he doesn’t always get down to knowing the Halacha. We need both aspects.

Therefore, besides for the fact that we must exert ourselves in studying Torah for many hours, we have another facet to our ameilus – we need to get to train ourselves to always get to the truth. Not only that, but we need to get to the emes l’amitah (absolute truth) – we need to constantly get to the most subtle truths in Torah.

Torah – Our Higher Dimension

There is another aspect in our ameilus as well, which is very hidden from us. We will explain what it is.

The soul consists of three layers: action, speech, and thought. Our mitzvos are the realm of our actions (and this includes avoiding the negative commandments). Torah learning is not just another mitzvah; Chazal say that it is equal to all the mitzvos – meaning, all the other mitzvos are about action, while Torah is on a whole different level than action. The Torah is on the plane of speech and thought, which are higher modes in the soul than action.

There are also “mitzvos of our heart”[1], as the Chovos HaLevovos writes about, which are the bridge between our speech and actions. But the mitzvah of Torah uplifts a person from action into the higher realms of speech and thought.

One must come to act properly from the Torah that he learns, but even more so, Torah learning uplifts a person from the plane of action to the plane of thought. Thus, learning Torah is not just the mitzvah to learn Torah. It is to go from action into a higher realm - the realm of thought.

With other mitzvos, such as lulav and tefillin, a person is on this world as he performs these mitzvos. His soul is still at action. His actions are holy, but he is still at the level of action. But with learning Torah, which involves the modes of speech and thought, a person is not on this “world of action” as he speaks in Torah; he is above this “world of action” entirely.

Therefore, the way to learn Torah is, as the Nefesh HaChaim says, that as you are learning Torah, you are not here on this world at all. Your soul is connected to the higher realms as you learn Torah.

Torah Enables Us To Transition To The Next World

To understand this better, in this world there is action, but in the upper realms, there is no action, because action is only for this world. There are only words and thoughts of Torah there.

One who did mitzvos will certainly get reward, but he was only connected to action, so he won’t feel connected to anything in the next world. But one who learned Torah properly on this world knew how to transcend the “world of action”, and is already familiar with words and thoughts of Torah, so he has what to do in the next world.

Thus, one who was at the level of just action\mitzvos doesn’t become a “ben aliyah” (growing spiritual person). There are few bnei aliyah, as Rashbi said; we have no connection to that level. But on our own level, we can be on this world yet as we learn Torah, we go above this world, and we involved ourselves entirely with Torah.

One who isn’t aware of this doesn’t know what Torah is about, therefore, even though he talks and thinks about Torah, he is unaffected by his Torah learning. That is why most people space out while they are learning Torah – it is because they aren’t aware that Torah is above this world. That is why people ‘schmooze’ in middle of learning; they talk about this world as they are learning because they are still connected to this world as they learn Torah.

But if a person realizes as he’s learning Torah that he’s above the world, he is a ben aliyah, and he is very connected to above this world, and he will have much less thoughts about this world as he’s learning. He will find it easier not to schmooze. Not because he made a taanis dibbur (a fast from speech), but because he realizes that as he’s learning he is not on this world. He won’t even feel a desire to schmooze.

People cannot do something for long that they are not interested in. So too, one cannot involve himself with Torah that long if he’s more interested in this world. The proper way to learn Torah is to think of it constantly, as the Ramchal writes, that “the way of the wise is to always think”. This doesn’t mean to simply be a thinker, nor does it mean to hold back from schmoozing. It means to be connected to the higher realms.

In Summary

So the three general parts of learning Torah are:

1) To learn Torah “according to the halacha” - to know how to act, what to do and what not to do; therefore one must also learn halacha;

2) To learn Torah in order to get to the truth of every sugya;

3) After that (and not before), one should progress to the third level, which is to connect to the world of speech and thought that is Torah – to always connect one’s thoughts in it, and through this one ascends this world of action, and then he will find it easier not to schmooze while he’s learning.

However, as we explained here, this third stage can only be reached after a person has worked on the first stages. In order to work on this stage, one can review Mishnayos or Gemara as he’s walking home.

In Conclusion

Through connecting to the Torah in these ways, one can eventually feel yet a deeper recognition: how “Hashem and the Torah are one”.

The Chazon Ish said that one should remember Who gave us the Torah as he learns, and through this, one is connected to Hashem as he learns Torah.