In today's "Random Torah" we take a look at a teaching in Pirkei Avot - Ethics of our Fathers. The theme - Torah. The content - its study and its practice. What it's really all about.
Education
Pirkei Avot 4:5
רַבִּי יִשְׁמָעֵאל בְּנוֹ אוֹמֵר, הַלּוֹמֵד תּוֹרָה עַל מְנָת לְלַמֵּד, מַסְפִּיקִין בְּיָדוֹ לִלְמֹד וּלְלַמֵּד. וְהַלּוֹמֵד עַל מְנָת לַעֲשׂוֹת, מַסְפִּיקִין בְּיָדוֹ לִלְמֹד וּלְלַמֵּד לִשְׁמֹר וְלַעֲשׂוֹת. רַבִּי צָדוֹק אוֹמֵר, אַל תַּעֲשֵׂם עֲטָרָה לְהִתְגַּדֵּל בָּהֶם, וְלֹא קַרְדֹּם לַחְפֹּר בָּהֶם. וְכָךְ הָיָה הִלֵּל אוֹמֵר, וּדְאִשְׁתַּמֵּשׁ בְּתָגָא, חָלָף. הָא לָמַדְתָּ, כָּל הַנֶּהֱנֶה מִדִּבְרֵי תוֹרָה, נוֹטֵל חַיָּיו מִן הָעוֹלָם
Rabbi Yishmael his son says: One who studies Torah in order to teach will be given the opportunity both to study and to teach. One who studies in order to practice will be given the opportunity to study, to teach, to observe, and to practice. Rabbi Tzadok says: Do not make it [the Torah] into a crown with which to aggrandize yourself, and not into a spade with which to dig into them. And thus Hillel used to say: And one who makes use of the crown [of learning] passes away. From here you learn that anyone who benefits from the words of the Torah removes his life from the world.
THE PATH AND ROAD OF TORAH STUDY
Rabbi Yishmael shares with us the path to take when studying Torah. Torah study should not be an end in itself. Torah is not an intellectual exercise. Likewise, it is not something studied to obtain a degree. It is not something one studies for oneself only. It is not something one studies in order to reach a certain point and then stop.
The greatness of Torah is when one learns it in order to teach it to others. Today, there are an infinite amount of ways to teach the Torah one has learned. We have the Internet with the ability to produce a webpage (like our page www.lovingkindness.co), or a blog such as this one - available for billions of people to see - if they only know which search to perform! Such things were never availble to us before - where literally everyone can be a teacher to millions of people in just a second! Our Sages teach us that even if one only knows the Aleph Beit - one should go ahead and teach that too! Teach it in a video and put on Youtube. Put it on your page! Invite someone to learn with you on Skype! We study in order to teach. Indeed, when one studies with the goal of teaching in mind, God gives one the ability to learn, so that one can teach.
Teaching marks the greatness of one who has learned something. When one can teach over what one has learnt, it is a sure sign one has learnt one's material correctly. One who cannot verbalise what it is that one has learnt has not yet internalised one's teachings sufficiently. One can see the greatness of learning the teacher has acquired simply by listening to the teacher teach. This being the case, we should always strive to study in order to teach. This will bring us to greater levels of knowledge and learning.
But there is yet a higher level. This is the ultimate level and truly the peak that we should be focused on climbing towards. It is the path that takes us not just to teaching (which we can do even through our actions - when others will see us doing the right thing) but it is a path that takes us to doing - to real action! When we study in order to practise, then God grants us the ability to learn, to teach, to observe and to do. This is truly the purpose of a person in this world - to study God's Torah, to teach it, to observe it oneself, and to practise everything one must do.
With all this, we should be warned! Torah is not a spade. It is not the means to generate wealth. It is not there in order to make money. We do not study it in order to use it is a profession like any other. The dentist who works at fixing people's teeth each day, does not come home and continue looking at everyone's teeth. The lawyer does not come home to implement laws wherever they are. People carry on life after their work. They may go out to eat for the evening. They relax perhaps with a good movie. They play golf. They go on vacation. When it's not work time, then their profession is put aside. It is over with. LIFE is what life is about, not work. Work is just there to bring in income. For the most part, people would not work or do the types of work they do, were it not for the need to accumulate wealth.
But Torah is different. It is not a spade. We do not dig with it and then put it aside when we are done. We continue to study it when in the Beit Midrash, when at home, when at a friend's home, when on a bus, a train or an aeroplane! It is with us always. We do not use it as a spade to dig. It is a part of us. We are constantly attached to it. It is not an external device that brings us something through its use.
Torah is not made to give us a crown and to acquire honour from it. It is made to be studied and to be observed because this is God's will. We do not use it so that others should honour us. If anything, we should feel the most honoured for the honour of being able to study and practise it.
Indeed, says Hillel - one who makes use of it as a crown will perish. Even if he is "living" in this world, he has already passed away. He has missed the purpose of life. He lives in a world that is foreign to the purpose of this world. It is as if he has perished. He may seem to be alive, but much like many others who seem to be alive but who never put anything into the world, he lives in a world which is by no means this one. It is indeed as if he has perished.
Study Torah. Study in order to teach! Study in order to practise! It is yours. You are a king anyway and require no crown in order to obtain the honour of others. With this, we will all have real life - in this world, and in the next.
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