Part IV. The Gift of Torah
Studying the Gift
We’re going to spend a few minutes now speaking about the best way, the most important way, of showing our gratitude for the gift of Torah. And that’s the subject of studying the Torah. Because it’s a wonderful thing to have a Shas on your bookshelf, to display it the way a kallah is proud to display the jewelry her chosson gave her, but that’s only the beginning.
Because what does it mean you appreciate the Torah? Here’s a Gemara. It’s closed; it stays on the shelf.
“Oh, but don’t You see how happy I was on Shavuos? Of course I appreciate it to no end,” he says.
So Hashem says, “What do you mean, ‘I appreciate it’? Open it up!” Appreciation means you have the desire to make use of it. If somebody gives you a gift and you never use the gift, he’s disappointed. So Hashem said, “Open up the Gemara; that’s called appreciating it.”
And therefore, Shavuos includes both things. Fundamentally, it’s hakoras hatov and happiness for the giving of the Torah, but the hakoras hatov requires that we should utilize that gift. And so it’s learning Torah, that’s the number one happiness of Shavuos, the number one way of showing appreciation for the gift of the Torah.
All Night With The Satmerer Rav
That’s why there’s an old minhag to stay up on Shavuos night learning Torah. Now, it’s not a mitzvah min haTorah. It’s not even a takanas Chachomim. But the Am Yisroel does it. Of course, if someone is ill, physically weak, then I’m not saying anything. I’m not telling you to stay up all night if you have any chashoshos, any suspicions, about your health. But the idea is we want to show that learning Torah is so important that we can’t even go to sleep.
A long time ago, when the old Satmerer Rav was still alive, I went to visit him. I was supposed to do something, a job, for him — I was the one who composed the first New York Times advertisement against the Zionists. I was the one to compose it, so I went in to ask him to give me a bracha that I should succeed. I was up all night writing that article. Over and over again, I went over it. All night I was up because it was important!
And so on the night before we’re going to accept the Torah, we want to show how important it is, how much we appreciate it, so we stay up all night learning — at least I hope you’re learning. Because included in the great gift of Torah that Hashem gave us is the tremendous privilege that we are allowed to study His words, His thoughts. That’s what we say in the bracha, נָתַן לָנוּ תּוֹרָתוֹ – it’s His Torah, His thoughts, His attitudes. And it’s תּוֹרַת אֱמֶת, those are the only true attitudes in the universe. And nothing in the world, even mitzvos and maasim tovim, is bigger than that.
Greater than Riches
Let me explain that. There are two pessukim. One says, וְכָל חֲפָצֶיךָ לֹא יִשְׁווּ בָהּ – all of your desirable things cannot equal to the Torah (Mishlei 3:15). All the things that people love in this world — people love wealth, they love honor, they love pleasure, they love their wives, their children — it’s nothing compared to the Torah.
Here’s a millionaire — a true story — a multimillionaire who’s going from one of his places where he has a big business to another place, a big business, and he has a minute in between. That minute in between, he takes a sefer and learns. And he knows that those few words are worth more than all his property that he has. כָּל חֲפָצֶיךָ לֹא יִשְׁווּ בָהּ – Whatever he has is not equal, לְדָבָר אֶחָד מִן הַתּוֹרָה – to that one mishnah he learned (Yerushalmi, Peah 1:1). Nothing is more desirable than the Torah.
Greater than a Spouse
A yeshiva bochur once told me he was going out with a girl and she heard something like that, so she said to him, “I won’t play second fiddle to a Gemara.” He came and told me this story.
I told him, “If that’s so, then drop that shidduch.” Because she doesn’t understand. A wife is second fiddle to a Gemara. And, by the way, a husband is second fiddle to the Torah too. Same thing. Because כָּל חֲפָצֶיךָ לֹא יִשְׁווּ בָהּ – everything in the world, everything you love, is subservient to the Torah.mishnah
Greater than Mitzvos
But there’s another possuk, וְכָל חֲפָצִים לֹא יִשְׁווּ בָהּ; instead of “your desires,” it says, “all desirable things” (ibid. 8:11). It means even things that Hashem desires, לֹא יִשְׁווּ בָהּ, cannot compare to the Torah. What does that mean that Torah is greater than all of the things that “Hashem desires”? It means that even all the mitzvos of the Torah cannot compare l’davar echad min haTorah, to one word of Torah learning (Yerushalmi, ibid.).
A tremendous statement! Even as we say the words it’s hard to believe. All the mitzvos of the Torah are not as important as one statement or one word of learning Torah. Of course, it’s with a condition — it’s only if you’re learning in order to be an oved Hashem, to study His words. You have to learn Torah lishmah. That’s why even little children, you have to remind them, “My little boy, you’re learning בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹקִים, and you’re able to say the possuk very well. Excellent! I’m so proud of you! But remember, you’re learning because Hakadosh Baruch Hu commanded us to learn Torah. We’re doing His service.”
But once you add that intention, so one line of Torah is more important than all the mitzvos put together. It’s astonishing! Not only is one word of Torah study greater than all the things you desire in this world — wealth and happiness, nachas, long years — but it’s greater than all the mitzvos in the world; tefillin and mezuzos and tzitzis and matzah and korban pesach, all the obligations of the Torah cannot compare to davar echad, one word of the Torah. יְקָרָה הִיא מִפְּנִינִים – The Torah is more important than the diamonds and pearls and sapphires of mitzvos.
One Line of Greatness
It means when you sit down and open a Gemara, it’s such a tremendous happiness, such a great achievement, that it outdoes, it far outdoes all the good things together. When you’re sitting down to learn one line of the Gemara, it’s considered better than all the mitzvos and maasim tovim that Hakadosh Baruch Hu could give you to do.
I know that’s a very difficult idea for us to accept. It’s very far away from our ideals today because we’re far from emes. We think maybe it’s just propaganda — I’m just trying to convince you to come to the Torah classes here.[1] But actually it’s one hundred percent emes. To sit and learn a line of Gemara is better than all the mitzvos.
Greater Than Life Itself
Of course, if you have to do a mitzvah and you’re sitting in front of the Gemara, you have to stop learning to do the mitzvah. Just like you have to stop learning to save a Jewish life, and still the Gemara says, גְּדוֹלָה תַּלְמוּד תּוֹרָה יוֹתֵר מֵהַצָּלַת נְפָשׁוֹת – learning Torah is more important than saving lives (Megillah 16b). Certainly you have to stop learning for hatzalas nefashos, certainly. You have to stop Torah for kiddush levanah too. But still, the time that you were busy with that is deducted from your Torah perfection, and when Hakadosh Baruch Hu doesn’t send such a mitzvah to a Jew and allows him to study the Torah in peace, he’s more fortunate.
Now you’ll ask, how can that be? If I have to stop, how can it be that I don’t get the same perfection? So fifty-nine years ago I asked this question to one of my rebbes, Reb Avrohom zichrono livracha. Now what he said I won’t tell you now — ask me afterwards — but that’s the fact; the mitzvos of the Torah are not as great a privilege as the mitzvah of studying Torah. It can’t be helped; Torah is too important.
And that’s why the halacha is that if there’s a mitzvah to be done and someone offers to do it and you yourself are able to learn Torah in that same time, so let him do it and you choose to learn Torah instead. Because the greatest gift given to mankind is perfection in the Torah; you’re putting into your mind the machshavos of the Borei Olam, and that’s the greatest of all achievements, to think like Hakadosh Baruch Hu thinks. When you think like Hakadosh Baruch Hu thinks, that’s the greatest perfection of a person; it’s the most tremendous change you can make in yourself.
Toras Nashim
Now, how do women do that? Women encourage their husbands to learn Torah. They say, “Chaim, go to the shiur,” “Chaim, go to the yeshiva.” נָשִׁים בְּמַאי קָא זַכְיָן – How do women achieve that greatness? בְּאַתְנוֹיֵי גַּבְרַיְהוּ בֵּי רַבָּנַן – They encourage their husbands to learn (Brachos 17a). She says, “Go out of the house, go to the beis hamedrash.”
Also, בְּאַקְרוֹיֵי בְּנַיְהוּ לְבֵי כְנִישְׁתָּא – she sends her children off to the cheder, and when they come home, too, she encourages them more to learn more.
They come back from the yeshiva: “Mommy, but we learned all day long.”
“Never mind. Take a Chumash and sit down and review the Chumash here. Get in the habit of learning by yourself.”
And the children sit at night and they learn. They get into the habit. כָּל בַּיִת שֶׁנִּשְׁמָעִים בּוֹ דִּבְרֵי תּוֹרָה בַּלַּיְלָה – A house where you hear divrei Torah at night, שׁוּב אֵינוֹ נֶחֱרַב – that house can’t be destroyed (Eiruvin 18b). It’s a blessed house. It’s forever.
A Full Partner
And she’s blessed even more than the house because she gets one hundred percent credit in all the Torah that is learned. You know, in the olden times everybody knew that. That’s why women up till a hundred years ago strove to marry bnei Torah. You went in small towns in the stores, women stood in the stores alone and the husbands were sitting in the beis hamedrash all day long. There were very many eidims on kest in the small towns. That’s how it used to be.
Every beis hamedrash was like a yeshiva because the women tried their best that the husbands should be lamdanim. And every woman knew that she is going to go to Gan Eden holding onto her husband’s kapoteh. That’s how they used to say. It’s not a joke! She knew that she would go to Gan Eden with her husband’s merit of his Torah.
וְהָיוּ לְבָשָׂר אֶחָד – A husband and a wife are not two people. They’re two parts of a personality. Consider your face; it gets credit from what your feet walked. If your feet walk in a good place, your face remains intact. If your feet walk where there is traffic, your face won’t remain intact. And so the wife, when she urges her husband to go and learn, and does other things to facilitate his learning, so she has a full partnership in all of his Torah. And that’s going to be the greatest happiness.
Torah in the Kitchen
Besides, I passed through a kitchen once. The entrance was through the kitchen and so I had to walk through the kitchen. The woman of the house was busy cooking. I looked at the kitchen table. There was a Rambam open with her glasses where she was keeping the place. She was learning Rambam!
So why can’t you? A lot of women can learn Rambam. Women can’t learn accounting? Women can’t learn complicated subjects? Why can’t they learn lashon kodesh? They can learn Rambam. A woman can learn Kuzari if she has time — of course, a woman shouldn’t have any time; a woman should have a kitchen full of babies and she should be busy all day with them. That’s the biggest kind of learning! If a woman is raising children, that’s her Mesichta Brachos, Mesichta Shabbos, Mesichta Pesachim, Mesichta Eiruvin. That’s everything. That’s her Shas. You can give away a Shas anytime for a family — a family is worth more than a Shas. Her children, that’s a glorious library of Torah.
The Torah of Gratitude
And so learning on Shavuos is not only for the mitzvah itself. It’s an expression of gratitude, of happiness, of appreciation for the gift of Torah. And it’s for after Shavuos too. If you have a minute to learn, to learn one word of Torah, just one word, it’s worth everything; it’s more than all of your possessions, all your properties. But it’s also a great expression of gratitude. And so even though you’re a busy man making a living, whenever you have a chance, you go back to your learning, even for a few minutes.
Sometimes you can learn more than a few minutes. You can learn Torah in your lunch hour. You can learn in your evenings. There are shiurim you can attend. Sometimes you even have hours and hours; on Shabbos, Friday night, motzei Shabbos. Some people don’t work on Sundays. Then there’s Yom Tov and Chol Hamoed, all kinds of opportunities. And the man who knows what Shavuos is, he understands that he’s busy with millions and millions of pounds of diamonds. אֲשֶׁר נָתַן לָנוּ תּוֹרַת אֱמֶת! That’s the gift of all gifts!
Part V. Appreciating the Gift
Lift Off
And so we come back now to what we began with, the tremendous simcha that Shavuos was in the yeshivas. You know, the Jewish calendar is studded with happy days, but Shavuos was exceptional; it was the happiest day of the year because that was the day we became the Am Yisroel, the day we were lifted up above, way way above, the nations of the world to become the forever nation.
And it happened by means of Matan Torah, by means of Torah u’mitzvos. That’s our greatness! That’s our pride, our happiness! אַשְׁרֵינוּ מַה טּוֹב חֶלְקֵנוּ – How lucky we are and how good is our lot, וּמַה יָפֶה יְרֻשָּׁתֵנוּ – and how beautiful is our inheritance. Ooh ah! You can drink down those words again and again and you become intoxicated with happiness.
Intellectual Intoxication
Now, we understand that it’s hard to be intoxicated with happiness all our lives. Human beings have a problem with their emotions and it’s not easy to maintain that high level of excitement all the time. And therefore we shouldn’t blame anybody. You see that the Nevi’im and the Chachomim during Bayis Rishon couldn’t blame the people either; only Hakadosh Baruch Hu saw. עַד שֶׁבָּא הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא וּפֵרְשָׁה – He saw that they should have done better, אֲשֶׁר לֹא בָּרְכוּ בַּתּוֹרָה תְּחִלָּה – that they weren’t thanking enough; they didn’t understand enough the happiness of having a Torah.
It means that Hashem demands more from us. Such a gift requires more, much more, than even the Nevi’im and Chachomim could imagine. It’s not easy even to comprehend such an ideal but that’s what the Gemara tells us. Hakadosh Baruch Hu said, “It’s good but I’m not satisfied yet.”
Living Up to Being a Yisroel
And that’s an important lesson for us; a great nation has to live up to its greatness. And included in that is an obligation to enjoy this privilege that we have a Torah and to enjoy even more the privilege that we can learn the Torah. It’s an infinite happiness, a tremendous joy to have the Torah. And even though it’s not easy to maintain such a level of excitement forever but all the generations that studied this lesson, שֶׁלֹּא בֵּרְכוּ בַּתּוֹרָה תְּחִלָּה, and made a tremendous effort — like we’re making now, tonight — to try and recapture some of that excitement, they succeeded to a great extent.
And so at least from time to time we must remind ourselves. Try to work on it; spend time reviewing the ideas we said tonight. And although, as I said, it’s not easy to maintain such a high degree of awareness always, but we must understand at least intellectually.
Joyful Meditations
It’s a very important obligation to spend time in our lives meditating, understanding what we have; you have to think about it all from time to time. For instance, when you say, “אֲשֶׁר בָּחַר בָּנוּ מִכָּל הָעַמִּים,” so once in a while think about what you’re saying. “You chose us, Hashem. You made us Yisroel at Har Sinai and because of that, because of the Torah u’mitzvos, we are given a guarantee, כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל, without any exception, will be in Olam Haba with You forever and ever.”
And so the great happiness of having a Torah — whether you learn the Torah or don’t learn the Torah enough — everyone in Am Yisroel is expected to think thoroughly about this subject. That’s the primary obligation of a Jew, to thank Hakadosh Baruch Hu that he’s a Jew.
And we have to do it until we become actually happy, actually filled with joy that we are Jews, and we should feel that there’s nothing in the world as great as being a Jew! And you should look down on all the inhabitants, kol yoshvei tevel; all of them are k’mar m’dli. They’re like nothing compared to you. You are recognized by the King of the world as His chosen ones forever because He gave you His Torah, a gift that has no equal among all the prizes and all the treasures of this world. Mah yafah yerushaseinu!
A Day for Gratitude
And Shavuos, that’s the time to think about that more than other days. It’s a life program to study how great it is, how fortunate it is that we have a Torah — everyone in Am Yisroel is expected to think thoroughly about this subject — but Shavuos is the day most set aside for the great happiness of having a Torah. At least once a year when the time comes, don’t be masiach daas from that: How fortunate we became when we stood at the foot of Har Sinai and received the Torah. Because what did Hashem say at that time? וִהְיִיתֶם לִי סְגֻלָּה מִכָּל הָעַמִּים – “You, the whole nation, will be for Me a special treasure from all the nations” (Shemos 19:5).
And so this is the day, more than any other day, to review once more these great ideals and understand the happiness that Shavuos means for us. That’s the plain truth; it’s not drush. Shavuos means the infinite happiness and excitement of וְאַתֶּם תִּהְיוּ לִי מַמְלֶכֶת כֹּהֲנִים וְגוֹי קָדוֹשׁ – And you will be for Me a Kingdom of Kohanim and a Holy Nation (ibid. 6).
And so as we’re approaching Matan Torah now, that’s what has to be most on our minds. Other things, smaller things, cheese blintzes, cheese cakes, very good but that’s not what we’re thinking about. Our machshavos are focused on one thing: “Hakadosh Baruch Hu, we’re so grateful to You, אֲשֶׁר בָּחַר בָּנוּ מִכָּל הָעַמִּים וְנָתַן לָנוּ אֶת תּוֹרָתוֹ, for choosing us by giving us the Torah. We’re so happy with the Torah, and we’re going to show You that we’re going to receive the Torah again with the greatest enthusiasm.”
And that’s why it’s the happiest day of the year; because Shavuos is the time of הַבּוֹחֵר בְּעַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּאַהֲבָה, when Hashem expressed His great love for the Am Yisroel by giving us the gift of Torah u’mitzvos!
Have a Wonderful Yom Tov and Shabbos
Compilation based on tapes: 474 – Thanking for the Torah | 625 – Perfecting the Mitzvos | E-19 – Why the Land Went Lost | E-138 – Jewels for the Beautiful Nation | E-141 – The Most Happy Day | E-257 – Make Use of the Great Gift
