Jewish Inspiration Podcast · Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe

You're listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of Torch in Houston, Texas. This is the Jewish Inspiration Podcast.

Welcome back, my dear friends, for day number 179 in the Treasure for Life edition of the Orcha Sadiqim in the Gate of Torah on page 938. Lochein, therefore, what did the author tell us previously? He told us the importance of not just learning Torah, being immersed and toiling in Torah. If you can, set your heart and all of your mind on Torah all the time, on all occasions, wherever you go.
When a person immerses himself in Torah study, he will find life and honor and will merit many fruits in this world and all of the good traits in the world. I want to share with you something. You know, we say that a person should toil. The Chavetz Chaim says that as long as the sign is on the store, the business owner is still in business. What does that mean? Imagine you come to a store and you open up.
My wife wanted me to drop off something today at a store. And I came and the door is locked. It says open. It still says open. The clock, it says the five o'clock. I was there at 4.50 and the door is locked. I knock on the door, right? You think they're out of business? No, the sign is still there. They went home. They had dinner with their family. You think they're not thinking about their business? It doesn't say to just learn Torah.
It says that Torah should be Eisek HaTorah. It should be like a business. Just like your business, you don't close it down. When you close it down, you turn off the lights, you take off the sign, and then you're out of business. In Torah, a person, as long as we're alive and we have a breathing soul within us, we need to be studying Torah. What does one learn from Torah? You know what you learn from Torah?
Through Torah, you learn wisdom, you learn awe, you learn proper character, humility, modesty, and all good deeds. And heaven provides his needs. This is what the Talmud says. And what does the Torah do? It guards you. It raises you and it uplifts you. Just as our sages taught us. Someone who studies Torah, who occupies himself with Torah, for the sake of Torah, merits many great things. And not only that, but the whole world, the entire existence of this world is sufficient for him.
Meaning Hashem created the world just for him. It's worth it to create the entire world with all of the troubles and everything that goes on in this world, just for that guy who sits and learns Torah. And what does such a person call someone who sits and immerses himself in Torah? He's called a friend, a beloved. And it, the Torah, raises and uplifts him above all creations. That's the reward in this world. What's the reward in the world to come?
No eye has seen the reward except you, G-d. What is that referring to? The world to come. That's, by the way, in the next episode of the Ask Away, I'm sure the question will come up again, I promise that I will bring all the proofs of hints to the world to come. This is one of them, where it says in Isaiah 64.3, No eye has seen the reward except for you, G-d. Meaning, it's not in this world, it's in the world to come.
The reward is in the world to come. Even the great prophets weren't able to see and get a glimpse of the reward for the righteous in the world to come. All they saw was the garden, but they didn't see Eden itself. And there's nothing greater than it. There's nothing higher than it in the world to come. The Midrash tells us, Rabbi asked Rabbi Bezalel, What does the verse mean when it says in Hosea 2.7, What does that mean? How is that?
As with a sage sitting and expounding, do not pervert judgment. And there he himself is perverting judgment. Do not play favorites. And he himself plays favorites. Do not take a bribe. And he talks about this great sage. He talks about, don't take a bribe. And then, out the back door, he's taking bribes for himself. The poor man's wisdom is despised. What is a wisdom that's despised? What does this mean? When his good deeds don't match what he learns, then his wisdom is despised.
When a person teaches the act of goodness, but doesn't live them, We know that the teaching is not enough. That's not the most important thing. It's not the essential. The most important is the action. So this person can teach and can teach and can teach. This person can try to inspire people, but it's going to have no influence because he himself doesn't do it. A person should never be a teacher of Torah if they don't observe it,
if they don't live it and act in the way that the Torah wants one to act. Therefore, on the top of page 941, A person should perform his deeds with the intention for the sake of heaven. And we see this from, it's demonstrated from Alisha ben Avuyah. Since his father taught him Torah, not for the sake of Torah study, but just for his own pride, it ended up in heresy. When he had his bris, his circumcision, at eight days, what happened?
His father made a big, big feast for all of the righteous, all the scholars, all the sages. And he invited Rebbe Eleazar and Rebbe Yeshua and all the other sages. And they would all sit there by the meal, by the festive meal, the mitzvah meal of a bris, and they would talk words of Torah. Until they were surrounded by fire. He said to them, Alisha's father, did you come here to burn down my house? No, this fire is just here because we are reviewing Torah and prophets
and writings and the words are as joyful as when they were given at Sinai. And we know what happened at Sinai. How was the Torah given at Mount Sinai? With fire. So too, because we're so excited and delighted in our Torah study, we're so immersed in our Torah study, that it is now here with us, with fire. The father of Alisha says, Since this is what I see the power of Torah is, if this child lives, I'm going to give him to Torah.
Since he didn't do it for the sake of Torah, he did it just because of the sake of the honor. Therefore, his son gravitated into heresy. As the Talmud teaches us, notwithstanding that, a person should still learn Torah. Meaning, let's say a person is learning Torah because it's brilliant, it's very smart, it's intriguing, it's stimulating. Should he not learn Torah? We just said he should learn it for the sake of Torah. He should learn it for the sake of Torah.
What do our sages teach us? Learn it anyway. Because hopefully when you learn it, not for altruistic purposes, you will end up as a result in the end of the day, you will hopefully do it for the proper purpose, for the proper cause, for altruistic reasons. And therefore, it is appropriate for even if someone does not study things for its own sake, he should study it because ultimately he will come to study it for its own sake. This, my dear friends, concludes day number 179.
When a person, yes, okay, great question. You're saying, what's about a mitzvah that's rarely done? And you're very excited when you learn about its hidden secrets of the mitzvah. You learn the Mirch Haschenuch, it gives you many of the reasons for mitzvahs. And it's like, it's invigorating. And you're like, wow, that's amazing. It's electric. It's so unbelievable. And you're mind blown and you're excited and you're energized from it. Is it as if you've fulfilled the mitzvah? Absolutely, Sarah Sages.
Our sages tell us, yes, that's like you performed the mitzvah itself. It's very powerful. A person needs to learn and be completely in it. And when you learn it and you get excited by it, now it's as if you fulfilled it. It's a great thing. It's a very, very beautiful, powerful thing for a person to be able to sit and study Torah even though they're on their way. It's a fulfillment of a biblical obligation. That is the beauty of studying Torah.
My brother just recently said he can spend an entire year on each verse. On each verse in every portion. It'll take him a lifetime plus. The genius of the Torah, it's so brilliant. Someone came to Reb Simcha Wasserman, who is the son of Reb Elhanan Wasserman, and he asked him for an approbation for a book that he wrote. He spent 25 years researching the seven days of creation. And he wanted an approbation. He wanted the rabbi to write a thing. The rabbi said, absolutely not.
He said, what do you mean? He says, 25 years talking about creation? That's nothing. You can spend 30 lifetimes doing research on the seven days of creation, and it's not enough. It's not enough. It's unbelievable. There's no end to the Torah.

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