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This Jewish Inspiration Podcast is dedicated to learning, understanding and enhancing our relationship with Hashem by working on improving our G-d given soul traits and aspiring to reflect His holy name each and every day. The goal is for each listener to hear something inspirational with each episode that will enhance their life.
You're listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of TORCH in Houston, Texas. This is the Jewish Inspiration Podcast.
Welcome back. Good evening, everybody. I apologize for the delay. We are now at the beginning of the 27th gate at the Gate of Torah, page 925 in the Treasure for Life edition of the Orchestra of the Righteous. And now we begin, the author tells us, the Jewish people, which is so perfect because we're called the Jewish people. That's what we are called, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
We're called a holy nation. But we got three crowns. What are the three crowns? Kessar Torah, Kessar Kahuna, and Kessar Maluchah. The Kessar Torah, the crown of Torah, the crown of Kahuna, of priesthood, and the crown of kingdom, of kingship. Kessar Kahuna, Zohar Bar-Aron. Who got the crown of priesthood? That was Aaron. Aaron merited to that. Shinnei Bar-Avohai, Saloah, Lezar Aharav, Bris Kahuna As-Olam, as the verse states, and it will be to him and to his children after him,
the covenant of an everlasting priesthood. This is in Numbers, chapter 25, verse 13. Who got the crown of kingship? Kessar Malchus, Zohar Bar-David, that King David got. So each of these crowns, someone got it. Shinnei Bar-Azaro, Le'olam, Yehiyeh, V'kisso kashemesh negdi. As the verse states regarding King David, it says, his seed shall endure forever and his throne as the sun before me. Just as the sun doesn't disappear, so too the kingdom of David will never disappear.
And this is from Psalms, chapter 89, verse number 37. So what's the crown that's remaining? The crown that's remaining is the crown of Torah. Kessar Torah harei munach ve'omid u'muchan lechol Yisroel. The crown of Torah has been set down and stands and is ready for all of Israel. The entire nation of Israel has the opportunity to take the crown of Torah. Shinnei Mar, Torah tzivolonu Moshe marosho ki hilas Yaakov. Moshe commanded the Torah to us.
It is a heritage, a lineage, an inheritance for the congregation of Jacob. And this is one of my favorite verses in the Torah in Deuteronomy, chapter 33, verse number four. Kol mish yirtze yaveh v'yitol. Whoever wants the Torah, you hear this mark? Whoever wants the Torah, come and take it. It's yours. There's no barrier of entry, zero barrier of entry. The only thing that one needs in order to attain the Torah. You hear this, Uncle Phil? Yes.
The only thing that is needed for one to attain the Torah is come and take it. It's yours. It's literally yours. No, every person has an individual, no teams. All right. It's not a team sport. It's an individual sport. You can't grow spiritually by osmosis. It takes a personal relationship with God in order to grow. Now, osmosis would help. Being in a good environment always helps and is definitely a very powerful tool in our personal growth.
But you can't grow just by being around holy people. You have to actually take your own step. Shema tomar she'osem ksarim gdolemi keser Torah. And you may say, perhaps, that the other crowns are greater than the crown of Torah. That is incorrect. Harei hu omer bimolochim yimlochim v'rozdim yichok hakud tzedek. Through me, Torah kings will reign and princes will legislate justice. Through me, nobles will rule. Bisarim yisaru. Ho'olamad eto she'keser Torah gdolemi keser kuna umi keser malchus.
We see from here that the crown of Torah is greater, far greater than the crown of kingship or the crown of priesthood. Ve'omer ha'cham ha'mizokhan le'vrochah, our sages of blessed memory said, Mamzer ta'amot chacham kodam le'kohen gadol am ha'aretz. Who's bigger, a mamzer? A mamzer is a bastard child, but he's a scholar. Or a high priest who's an ignoramus. Who takes precedence? We know that the mamzer ta'amot chacham. She'nemar yikora hi mi'pninim, that the Torah is more precious than pearls. Mi'kohen gadol anichnas le'fnai ve'lefnim.
What is pninim? Pninim is also the word le'fnai ve'lefnim, that it's more precious. One who studies Torah than the person who goes into the holy of holies and does the service in the temple. Who was that? That was the high priest. And now we're on the top of page 928. Ein le'chol mitzvah be'chol ha'mitzvah she'yishkula k'neged kol ha'mitzvah. There's no mitzvah in the entire Torah that is as valuable as the study of Torah. Rak ta'amot torah she'kula k'neged kol ha'mitzvah.
Only the study of Torah is compared or equal to all the mitzvahs of the Torah. Le'fi she'ha ta'amot me'vi le'dei ma'asav. Why? Because in order to do the actions of Torah, to perform the mitzvahs of Torah, you have to study Torah so you know what to do. Ve'ma she'amot ta'amot torah k'neged kol ha'mitzvah. That which was said, that the study of Torah is equivalent to them all. Ze'ha lo'mi da'manas li'lmodu li'lamed li'sh marvelas ha'solakayim.
You know what it's talking about when it says that someone who studies Torah is equivalent to everything? One, it's referring to one who learns Torah, who studies Torah in order to learn, in order to teach, in order to observe, in order to fulfill, in order to do, and because of his set time for Torah study, he cannot fulfill all the mitzvahs, but when he is not learning, he does all that he can, thereby demonstrating his desire to perform all of the mitzvahs. So,
u'b'zeh mar'e, so he says, u'b'sho she'ino lo'med o'szeh kol ma'she yu'chal la'asos u'b'zeh mar'e da'ta she'chovetz ba'si ya'sa mitzvahs. Ve'oz ta'amot torah k'neged kol ha'mitzvah. So, if someone studies Torah, and when he doesn't study Torah, he's vacationing on the beach, right, that is not someone who is ta'amot torah k'neged kol ha'mitzvah, but someone who studies Torah, and when he's not studying Torah, he is fulfilling mitzvahs, and he desires to do more and more mitzvahs, so then we say that when he's studying Torah,
it's as if he fulfilled mitzvahs the entire time as well. u'b'zeh mar'e da'ta she'chovetz ba'si ya'sa mitzvahs. Ve'oz ta'amot torah k'neged kol ha'mitzvahs. Ki kishu hu lo'med ha'mitzvah v'chafetz l'kayma, when someone performs a mitzvah, and he is excited about performing the mitzvah. O'oz yesh lo'socha kilu k'ima. So imagine someone learns about the mitzvah of of shatnas, the mitzvah of rayshis ha'gez. You know, rayshis ha'gez is the first of the trimming of wool from a sheep. The first crop of that, the first shear of it
has to be given away. It's a fascinating mitzvah. I don't know about you, but I don't have sheep. So how in the world am I going to fulfill that mitzvah? But if someone learns it and he's so excited about it, then it's considered, even though he didn't perform it, it's considered as if he did because of his excitement and the effort that he puts into his study. O'oz yesh lo'socha kilu k'ima. He gets rewarded as if he fulfilled it.
So now you get two mitzvahs. You get the mitzvah of learning about it in the Torah and the mitzvah of performing it, even though you didn't fulfill the mitzvah of performance. So if someone has the opportunity to fulfill mitzvahs, and he doesn't because he's lazing around, sitting on the beach, someone is not sitting and learning Torah. He's not trying to fulfill it. And you know what? When he does fulfill the mitzvah, he's like, who cares anyway. Fulfill the mitzvah. I did the mitzvah. Goodbye. I checked the box,
so to speak. In such a case, it's not considered as if Talmud Torah Kineget Kula because he didn't do it with a passion. He didn't do it with a fervor, with a delight, with an excitement, with an energy. Anybody who wants to perform this mitzvah of Torah study, anybody who wants to have the crown of Torah, he desires it. He wants it. Should not be distracted with other things. Don't divert your attention to other things.
And don't do it with the intention of buying Torah with a rich man and honor as one, with a rich man and honor as one, but with the most precious thing of Torah. So what do we know? What if someone says, this is a classic American concept. I want to also be rich and also have Torah. I want to have both, the best of both worlds. I'm also going to study Torah and I'm also going to be fully engaged in a world of materialistic pleasures.
It doesn't go like that. Well, I can do both, right? You can do both. You can't do both. That's what the author here in the Orchid Tzadikim tells us, that you cannot do both. You cannot do both. It's one or the other. Rabbi Yerucham used to say to people when you'd go visit, you'd go to collect money from his free yeshiva. So it's what I call the Schindler's regret. What was Schindler's regret?
If only I would have been more careful with my money, I could have saved more lives. Imagine someone very, very wealthy, very successful in their business, and they give a lot of charity. You know, Rabbi Yerucham would also tell them, Rabbi Yerucham, the holy leader of the Meir Yeshiva in Poland, he'd come into people's homes and he'd say, you know, also for the drapes, also for the drapes that you have, there's accountability. What do you mean? I'm giving so much money to charity.
Right, but that charity could have also gone to feed another poor person. Yeah, you wanted to have a nice drape. Now again, there's a balance in this, but just for us to get the concept, the idea of how much accountability one should have on themselves, maybe I could help one more poor person have dinner. Maybe I could have saved one more life instead of enjoying one fancy, one more fancy dinner. This is a very, very important. Why? Because the Mishnah says,
The Mishnah says, eat bread with salt, and drink water by measure, and sleep upon the ground, and live a life of affliction and labor in Torah. Those are the prerequisites for someone to really attain this level of Torah study. You know what? First, let me make money, let me free myself from my work, from my other responsibilities, and then I will devote myself to Torah study. You know how many people that happened for? Zero. A total, a net sum of zero people ever on planet earth.
I've heard so many people tell me, they said, you know what? I'm now going to go, I'm leaving the yeshiva, I'm leaving kolel, so that I can support the kolel. I'm going so that I can make money, and when I have the money, then I'll come back and I'll do more outreach work with you. And people have told me this, I've heard this from dozens of people, where they said, yeah, I'm going to go make money, and then I'm going to come back to Torah study.
You know how many people that happened for? 0.0 people. It never happens. You know why? Because the Yetzirah is very, very smart. Very, very smart. You know, how many people do you know that sold their business for 300 million dollars, and then said, you know what? I'm going to go back and sit and learn Torah. You know what the Yetzirah says? The next day, they get a phone call, you know, if you invest this money in our new company,
your 300 million will be worth 2 billion next year. Right? There's always a new scheme. The Yetzirah never lets us go. There's always a new scheme. So if you think, oh, when I have that amount of money, then I'm going to start making a family. When I have that, that's when I'm going to start supporting, you know, different charities. Then I'm going to, I know, unfortunately, sadly, very sadly, I have a very dear friend
who decided that the best thing for him to do when he was in his 20s and 30s was make a lot of money so that before he has children, he has a home that's paid for, that he has their college fund all fully funded, and that he has their retirement fund all funded, and then I'll have children. And sadly, by that time, him and his wife were no longer able to have children.
So now what do you do? Now, what do you do? It's a tragedy, and it's really the saddest thing. But sometimes when it comes to Torah study, people make the same calculation. First, let me take care of my family. And first, let me take care of this. And then at some later date, I will get back to my Torah study. And when does that happen? Never. Absolutely zero percent of the time does that happen. And this is, by the way, the Talmud says this. He says,
If this thought even comes up in your heart, you will never attain the crown of Torah. Because that's not the way it works. As the Mishnah tells us in Ethics of Our Fathers, you have to make your Torah permanent and your career and your livelihood, that has to be the temporary. And those people, that I have seen people do. I have seen people who've gone into the workforce and said, you know what? I'm going to work, but I still need to learn every single day,
three hours every morning with my chavrusa, with my study partner, and that I cannot let go of. And you know what they found? Nobody works till 12 o'clock anyway. People are just getting settled into their office. They're getting this. They're answering emails. They're doing this. He said this individual, specific individual I'm thinking of right now, who told me, he realized he doesn't really miss any work by not coming till 11 or 12 o'clock in the afternoon. And then he gets his five, six hours of work done solidly.
He says he's more productive in those few hours that he's in the office than he would have been if he was there all nine hours or eight hours. It makes you more efficient. There's many benefits to it. But my dear friends, what we see here is that the Torah, the struggle of learning Torah is a struggle of the yetzarah. As soon, my grandfather writes in his opening chapter to his alei shur, his magnum opus, he says that as soon as you open up the Talmud,
all of your imagination starts to flourish. You suddenly start thinking about all of the dreams that you have, and all of the hopes that you have, and all the vacations that you need to materialize, and all the things you need to do. Suddenly, as soon as you open up the pages of the Talmud, suddenly you're flooded with thoughts and dreams and hopes, and everything takes over your imagination. What we need to do is to just clear our mind and say, you know what?
I'm here to study Torah, and to study Torah only, and not to allow ourselves anything to distract us. The Mishto further in Ethics of Our Father says, page 931 on top, don't ever say, when I have free time, then I will learn, because you will never have that free time. Kosov baTorah, it says in the Torah, the Torah is not in the heavens. What does it mean, it's not in the heavens? It's not by those who are arrogant and elevate themselves. Those people, and it's not,
it doesn't reside by those who are haughty, neither across the seas. That is, it does not reside with those who cross the seas for commerce. People are constantly busy, traveling here, traveling there. Parish, Posim, Shoachim, Me'eval HaYom, Lafika, Chama, Chacham, and therefore our sages told us, of blessed memory. Not everyone who does trade, not everyone who works, succeeds. Ve'omru havim mimayit be'esikva sok baTorah. One should limit their occupation and occupy themselves
instead with Torah. Now, let me give you just a little bit of an insight as we end off day number 177, and that is as follows. Imagine someone came to you, you have a leaky sink, and you hire someone to fix your leaky sink, and the guy goes under the sink, takes out all the cleaning supplies, takes out all of your pans, whatever, all the basins that are in there, and he cleans it, moves it all out, gets under there, and
you know, he's looking, he says, oh, okay, I figured out what it is. I just need to run to Home Depot. He runs to Home Depot, comes back a few hours later, no, depends, sometimes it takes them an hour or two, but either way, they come back finally, and still all the stuff are all over the kitchen floor because they're fixing that sink, and they have the part, and then they take off the part that they needed to replace, they put on the new part,
but it cracks, and now they need to go back to, whatever it is, at the end of the day, the guy tells you, listen, I'm sorry, I tried to fix it, but with no success. I tried to fix it. Here's your bill, $574, and you're like, what's this for? You're like, this is for my work. You're like, I didn't ask you to work. I asked you to fix it.
I hired you to fix it, not to work hard. I appreciate that you worked hard. I really do. Here's a can of coke, but I didn't ask you to work hard. I asked you to fix the sink. You didn't fix the sink, and this would be a big problem, big dilemma, right? But here's the question. If someone sits and learns Torah for nine hours and doesn't understand a word by the time he's done, can't make a clear, coherent
explanation to what he's learning in the Torah, in the Mishnah, in the Talmud, in Halacha, does he get rewarded for it? Absolutely. The Torah, Hashem rewards us for every minute of Torah that we study. Every single minute of Torah study, every single minute of effort, not results. See, in Judaism, we reward effort, not results. Everywhere else in the world. You know, if you go and you're a salesman for Toyota, and you go to your manager and say, how come I didn't get paid this week?
He says, because you didn't sell any cars. You don't get any commissions. He says, but do you know how many people I spoke to? Do you know how many people I tried to persuade them to buy a car? He says, I don't care. At the end of the day, if you don't actually make a sale, you don't get your commissions. Mark, is that correct? That's the way it works. He works in the car dealership? Either way, this is the way it works in most industries.
If you don't make the sale, I'm sorry, I can't help you. I'm not here to, right? That's, it sounds logical in most industries. Not in Torah. We come to Hashem, we say, Hashem, you know what? I really don't deserve any reward. Because really, I don't understand what I'm learning. I'm reading. I don't really comprehend completely what it is that we're talking about. Help me out. Hashem still gives us full reward, like the Gaon of Vilna sat and learned. Do you understand?
That's how precious our Torah study is. And this, my friend, concludes day number 177.
You've been listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe on a podcast produced by TORCH, the Torah Outreach Resource Center of Houston. Please help sponsor an episode so we can continue to produce more quality Jewish content for our listeners around the globe. Please visit torchweb.org to donate and partner with us on this incredible endeavor.