Chapter III, Mishnah 5
פרקג משנה ,''ה: אומר הקנה בן נחוניא רבי: וכל .ארץ דרך ועל מלכות על ממנו מעבירין ,תורה עול עליו המקבל כל"
."ארץ דרך ועל מלכות על עליו נותנין ,תורה עול ממנו הפורק
Chapter 3, Mishnah 5: Rabbi Nechunia the son of Hakanah would say, "One who accepts upon himself the yoke of Torah is exempted from the yoke of government duties and worldly cares. But one who casts off the yoke of Torah is saddled with the yoke of government duties and the yoke of worldly cares."
The Simple Explanation
The basic explanation of this Mishnah seems to be relatively straightforward. Most of us are saddled with the yoke of worldly, day-to-day cares. The Mishnah offers a solution to this burden. By accepting the yoke of Torah, one is freed from all of these issues.
What is the yoke of Torah to which one must accept upon oneself? The Rambam, in his commentary to the Mishnah, defines this phrase. It means constantly being involved in Torah. The Rambam continues, explaining why the yoke of Torah exempts one from the yoke of worldly matters. The Sages tell us that "it says 'And the tablets are the wo not read the word "engraved" (Charus - חרות) but rather freedom (Chairus - חירות). No one is truly free unless he occupies himself with Torah study.' Here we see that only through Torah can one attain true freedom."
1. Pirkei Avos Chapter 6, Mishnah 2.
2. Parshas Ki Siso, Shemos 32:16.
3. Please note, that the method of “do not read ..., but rather ...” for deriving lessons from the Torah is used quite often by the Sages. However, there are two fundamental things to keep in mind. Firstly, it is not a word game. One cannot simply choose random words, and replace them with others, regardless of how similar they are. Rather, they are all teachings which the various Sages received from their teachers, who received from their teachers, etc., who received from Moshe, who received from Hashem. Secondly, the second reading does not replace the first, rather both are true.
The Deeper Explanation
This can be understood by the Alter Rebbe's explanation in Tanya of a teaching of the Sages, which seems to be very difficult to understand. The Talmud declares, "Bar Hay-Hay said to Hillel, 'You shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves G-d and him who has not served Him.' (The two expressions seem to be redundant.) 'The righteous' is the same as 'him who serves Hashem'; 'the wicked' is the same as 'him who has not served Him'! He answered that 'him that serves Him' and 'him that serves Him not' both refer to such as are perfectly righteous. However, one who reviews his chapter a hundred times is not to be compared with one who reviews it a hundred and one times. Bar Hay-Hay responded, 'Because of reviewing one less time, he is called 'him who has not served Hashem'? (How can that be?) — He replied, 'Yes, go and learn from the donkey-drivers market. Renting out his service to go ten parasangs, they charge one zuz, for eleven parasangs they charge two zuz.'"
The charge for donkey-drivers renting out their services of mules, and the number of times that one reviews his Torah lesson seem to have no connection. The Alter Rebbe explains this, that "in those days it was customary to review each lesson one hundred times, as, indeed, illustrated in the above Gemorah, by the example taken from the market, where donkey-drivers used to hire themselves out at a rate of ten parasangs for one zuz, but for eleven parasangs charged two zuz. This was because the extra distance went beyond their customary practice. For the same reason, the 101st time reviewing his lesson, beyond the normal practice to which he had been accustomed since childhood, is considered equivalent to all the previous one hundred times together. It is even greater than them in endurance and effort. It therefore entitles him to be called 'one who is serving Hashem.'"
We are saying that the amount of Torah study needed to qualify as one who served Hashem is the amount needed to change one's very nature. The Hebrew word for service is "Oved - עובד."
4. Tanya Chapter 15.
5. Tractate Chagigah 9, b.
6. Malachi 3:18.
7. A unit of measure.
8. A unit of money.
9. The reason for this seemingly large amount of review, was because during the time of the Mishnah, it was prohibited to study the oral law from a text. The need to know everything by heart, necessitated this large amount of review.
This is the same word which is used for tanning hides, "Ibud Oros – עורות עיבוד." This is what "the yoke of Torah" means: learning Torah in a manner that completely changes one's essence.
(Adapted from a talk given on Shabbos Parshas Vayishlach, 18 Kislev 5740)
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