יד יוסף: Bamidbar \ Ethics of our Fathers 6:2

אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי, בְּכָל יוֹם וָיוֹם בַּת קוֹל יוֹצֵאת מֵהַר חוֹרֵב וּמַכְרֶזֶת וְאוֹמֶרֶת אוֹי לָהֶם לַבְּרִיּוֹת מֵעֶלְבּוֹנָהּ שֶׁל תּוֹרָה שֶׁכָּל מִי שֶׁאֵינוֹ עוֹסֵק בַּתּוֹרָה נִקְרָא נָזוּף, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר "נֶזֶם זָהָב בְּאַף חֲזִיר אִשָּׁה יָפָה וְסָרַת טָעַם" (משלי יא כב), וְאוֹמֵר "וְהַלֻּחֹת מַעֲשֵׂה אֱלֹקִים הֵמָּה וְהַמִּכְתָּב מִכְתַּב אֱלֹקִים הוּא חָרוּת עַל הַלֻּחֹת", אַל תִּקְרָא חָרוּת אֶלָּא חֵרוּת, שֶׁאֵין לְךָ בֶּן חוֹרִין אֶלָּא מִי שֶׁעוֹסֵק בְּתַלְמוּד תּוֹרָה, וְכָל מִי שֶׁעוֹסֵק בְּתַלְמוּד תּוֹרָה הֲרֵי זֶה מִתְעַלֶּה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר "וּמִמַּתָּנָה נַחֲלִיאֵל וּמִנַּחֲלִיאֵל בָּמוֹת":

Said Rabbi Joshua the son of Levi: Every day, a heavenly voice resounds from Mount Horeb proclaiming and saying: "Woe is to the creatures who insult the Torah." For one who does not occupy himself in Torah is called reprimanded, as is stated (Proverbs 11:22), "A golden nose-ring in the snout of a swine, a beautiful woman bereft of reason." And it says (Exodus 32:16): "And the tablets are the work of G‑d, and the writing is G‑d's writing, engraved on the tablets"; read not "engraved" (charut) but "free" (chairut)---for there is no free individual, except for he who occupies himself with the study of Torah. And whoever occupies himself with the study of Torah is elevated, as is stated (Number 21:19), "And from Gift to Heritage-of-the-Almighty, and from Heritage-of-the-Almighty to Heights."

The author of the mishna above, Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levy, was exceeding great. In a story of his greatness the Talmud recounts that he met the man who would have been the messiah, if his generation was worthy of seeing the redemption. In this mishna he exhorts others to occupy themselves with the study of Torah. He starts by saying that every day Mount Sinai indignantly scolds everybody who is not busy learning Torah. In the Chumash it is not unusual for things to have more than one name. For example Mount Sinai and Mount Horev are the same place. The name Horev (חורב) is used because it is the language of destruction (חוּרבָּן) in order to arouse sympathy by conveying the idea that we are destroying the temple because we are not studying. Rabbi Ovadia of Bartenura comments that the Torah, itself, is insulted when nobody is studying it.

The mishna continues by comparing neglect of the Torah to a pig with a golden ring or a beautiful woman with horrible taste. Rashi explains that a talmid chacham who departs from the good path is like a pig that dirties itself in the garbage. The Pela Yoetz expands on this idea saying that love and concern are recognized when one does the will of his beloved with all his heart, soul, and strength. Great love will cause a person to accept much aggravation, anxiety, and toil; and even a long time will seem to be a few days. If a person loved the Torah as much as his wife, children, and money, it would be like a princess who marries below her station. Really a person should rejoice about his religious insights like he would if he found a large treasure, and should be careful about even losing a moment from his Torah study. In fact there is no bigger insult than one who can make great strides in religion but fails to do so because he doesn’t care.

The mishna continues that keeping the Torah is more than an act of love towards the Holy One blessed be He. In fact the only people who are truly free are those that learn the Torah. The Bartenura like other commentaries understands scolded as banished. He remarks that people honor and serve a religious scholar. However, they will distance themselves from one who is not occupied with Torah, therefore it is as if he was banished. Pinchas Kahati comments that freedom means not being subservient to one’s evil inclination or the passions of one’s heart.

The Derech Chaim understands Torah study as the vehicle which really makes a person free and the more one keeps it the freer he is. The idea is that the Torah is an abstract of the mind of Hashem and this is even further condensed into the Ten Commandments. In addition the creation is a representation of Hashem and just like man was created in the image of G-d, man’s mind is the image of G-d’s mind. Therefore when a person understands the Torah he understands, himself, the world, and the Holy One blessed be He. Physical coercion is in essence what makes something into servitude. However if one does an act of his own free will it is act of freedom. This is all the more so if the act brings one peace of mind and harmony with the physical world below and heaven above.

The mishna concludes from the verses, “from the desert, [to] Gift. From Gift,[to] Heritage-of-the-Almighty, and from the Heritage- of-the-Almighty, [to] Heights” (Numbers 21:18-19), that the Torah elevates a person. All of these are names of places, but never the less they have symbolic value. Based on this the Talmud (Nedarim 55a) brings the following homily: What is meant by, 'And from Wilderness, Gift; and from Gift, Heritage of the Almighty; and from Heritage of the Almighty, Heights? — He replied, When one makes himself like a wilderness, which is free to all, the Torah is given to him as a gift as it is written, 'And from Wilderness, Gift'. And once he has it as a gift, God gives it to him a heritage, as it is written, 'And from Gift, [to] Heritage-of-the-Almighty', And when God gives it him as a heritage, he ascends to greatness as it is written, 'And from Heritage-of-the-Almighty, [to] Heights'.