THE ART OF LEARNING TORAH EVERY SECOND YOU CAN
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THE ART OF LEARNING TORAH EVERY SECOND YOU CAN
King David desired to build the Beit HaMikdash, but Hashem did not allow him to do so because his hands were stained with blood from the many wars he fought. Hashem told him: כִּי דָם רַב שָׁפַכְתָּ וּמִלְחָמוֹת גְּדֹלוֹת עָשִׂיתָ, לֹא תִבְנֶה בַּיִת לִשְׁמִי כִּי דָּם רַב שָׁפַכְתָּ אַרְצָה לְפָנָי For you have shed much blood, and you have waged great wars; you shall not build a house for My Name because you have shed much blood upon the earth before Me.” (Divrei HaYamim I 22:8)
The Beit HaMikdash is a place of peace—peace between man and Hashem and peace between man and his fellow. Since King David was a warrior and had engaged in bloodshed, Hashem decreed that it would be inappropriate for him to be the one to build it. Instead, this task was left to his son, King Solomon, whose name itself is derived from the root Shalom, meaning peace. The people, understanding that King David could not build the Beit HaMikdash, eagerly anticipated the reign of King Solomon, for they believed that only under his rule could the Temple be completed. This anticipation led some to express a desire for King David’s passing so that the next stage could begin. However, King David rebuked them, saying that he had heard directly from Hashem that even one day of Torah study in the Beit Midrash was more precious than a thousand offerings brought by King Solomon. כי טוב יום בחצריך מאלף בחרתי הסתופף בבית אלקי . Our Rabbis explain : “אָמַר לָהֶם דָּוִד: טוֹב לִי יוֹם אֶחָד שֶׁאַתֶּם עוֹסְקִים בַּתּוֹרָה בֵּית הַמִּדְרָשׁ מֵאֶלֶף עוֹלוֹת שֶׁיִּקְרִיב שְׁלֹמֹה בְּהַר הַבַּיִת” “David said to them: One day of your Torah study in the Beit Midrash is more precious to G-d than a thousand Olot, burnt offerings, that King Solomon will offer on Har HaBayit.” (Pesachim 68b) King Solomon was known for offering a thousand Korbanot Olah(burnt offerings) daily. A Korban Olah is the highest level of sacrifice, as the entire animal is consumed by fire, with only the skin remaining. Given that the Beit HaMikdash functioned approximately twelve hours a day, this means King Solomon offered more than 1 sacrifice a minute. 1,000 sacrifices per 12 hours, from morning to night = 80 sacrifices per hour = More than 1 sacrifice per minute.
This teaches us a profound lesson: every minute of Torah learning is worth more than a full korban olah. Even one single moment of Torah learning surpasses the value, of an entire sacrifice, even a korban olah, an act of supreme devotion to Hashem, In the year 5731 (1971), Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, together with Rabbi Yissachar Meir, the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat HaNegev, visited the home of the Baba Sali. The Baba Sali told Rabbi Ovadia that even back in Morocco, he had studied his sefer Yabia Omer. The Baba Sali then told Rabbi Ovadia that this was an auspicious time and requested that he stay with him for an important meal, during which they would work together to bring about the redemption, Mashiach, and the Beit Hamikdash. However, Rabbi Ovadia apologized to the Baba Sali, explaining that many people were waiting for him at a Torah lecture in Bnei Brak. He added, “The study of Torah is even greater than the building of the Beit HaMikdash.”
The Mishnah in Pe’ah (1:1) states:”אֵלּוּ דְּבָרִים שֶׁאֵין לָהֶם שִׁעוּר… וְתַלְמוּד תּוֹרָה כְּנֶגֶד כֻּלָּם” “These are the things that have no measure to small, for which a person enjoys the dividends in this world while the principal remains for him in the World to Come… and the study of Torah is equal to them all.” Every word of Torah, no matter how small, is worth 613 Mitzvoth. There is no amount of how small, how short, the learning you do, that has the greatest reward. Even if one can only learn a single chapter in the morning and another at night, they still fulfill the mitzvah of לא יָמוּשׁ סֵפֶר הַתּוֹרָה הַזֶּה מִפִּיךָ וְהָגִיתָ בּוֹ יוֹמָם וָלָיְלָה This book of the Torah shall not depart from your mouth, and you shall meditate on it day and night.” (Yehoshua 1:8) Even reciting Shema in the morning and evening, fulfills this mitzvah!
The Shulhan Aruch rules that a person should only interrupt Torah learning for a mitzvah that cannot be performed by someone else. This is because learning Torah encompasses all 613 mitzvot. Being that the mitzvah Torah learning is so great, even greater than saving peoples’ lives, you can only stop learning, if no one else can do the Mitzvah, except you. (Yoreh De’ah 246:18): “תלמוד תורה שקול כנגד כל המצוות” “The study of Torah is equivalent to all other mitzvot.” Therefore, a person should only pause their learning for mitzvot that only he can do, eating and sleeping, since no one else can fulfill those on his behalf.
The Nervoni, one of the commentators of the Guide of the Perplexed of the Rambam, wrote 700 years ago: Know about Har Sinai, that each one of its rocks has the shape of the Thornbush on it. That is why it is called הר סיני because of the סנה, the thornbush design on its rocks. (See Pirkei D’RE 41) One of the Noblemen of Barcelona brought one of the stones back from the Mt. with him. He showed it to his family, and when I saw the thornbush on the rock, I broke the rock into half, and there was a thornbush again, on the inside of the crack, on the two halves! I broke it again, now into four, and again, on each side of each of the four stones, was a thornbush! I broke it until it was the size of peanuts, and there was always a thornbush shape, on each stone!
That testimony was 700 years ago. In our century, Israel’s Department of Geology crushed these stones thin. On every stone, not matter how small the stones were crushed, the sign of a thornbush was seen from a microscope! What is the message hidden in the stones? G-d doesn’t make miracles for fun, but for the message. What’s the message to us?
Every moment that a person learns Torah is comparable to the stone of Mount Sinai. No matter how small the fragment, it still will infuse you with connection to the divine experience of G-d giving you the Torah on Har Sinai. We bless over the Torah, that G-d is Melamed Torah, that He is teaching Torah, not Limed Torah, that He taught Torah. Because every single moment, G-d is teaching. Every second you open a book or hear a Torah class, G-d is teaching you.
No matter how busy our lives are, even a single chapter, a single pasuk, or a single word of Torah study holds infinite worth. The Noda B’Yehuda was once asked by a wealthy man how much he should give a talmid chacham for learning Torah. He replied: “You cannot pay enough for even one minute of Torah—it is worth more than all the money in the world!” (based on Mishlei 3:15, “יקרה היא מפנינים”—”It is more precious than pearls”).
Take the words, I am bored, out of your lexicon. Rav Moshe Feinstein would remind his talmidim that even waiting in line, sitting on a bus, or in between tasks, a person can learn Torah. One minute of learning isn’t “extra”—it’s life-changing.
