The gemara asks in Nedarim 81: Why was the Bais Hamikdash destroyed? The gemara answers, because klal Yisroel didn’t say Birchas Hatorah before learning. The Meforshim ask – is it possible that this aveira alone caused the churban? (The Shaagas Aryeh brings a machlokes between the Rambam and the Ramban if Birchas Hatorah is a de’oraisa or a derabanan. According to the Ramban that it’s a derabanan, is it possible that the churban came about just because the yidden transgressed a derabanan? And even according to the Ramban that Birchas Hatorah is a de’oraisa, where do find such a harsh punishment for being mevatel a mitzvas aseh?)
The gemara says in Yoma 9: that the first Bais HaMikdash was destroyed because klal Yisroel transgressed the three cardinal sins - avoda zara, gilui arayos and shefichas damim. Asks Rav Eliyahu Lopian, what caused the Churban - was it because klal Yisroel weren’t saying Birchas Hatorah or because they transgressed the three aveiros chamuros?
Rav Itzel Peterburger brings down the gemara in sota 21: that Torah protects a person from the yetzer hara and from yesurim. There is a machlokes if that protection is affective only at the time one is learning or even when he is not learning. The question is, if klal Yisroel were indeed learning Torah, how is it possible that the Torah didn’t protect them from transgressing the three aveiros chamuros?
The gemara says in Brachos 62: anyone who disgraces clothing will end up not having pleasure from it. We find that when Dovid Hamelech (Shmuel alef – 24) was running away from Shaul Hamelech, there was a time that he cut off a piece of Shaul’s garment. He did this to prove to Shaul that he snuck up so close to him – he could’ve killed him – yet he didn’t. He cut the garment to prove that he wanted peace and did not wish to harm Shaul in any way. Yet, with all the good intentions, Dovid Hamelech was still punished for disgracing a garment. In his old age, Dovid Hamelech felt very cold and no garment was able to warm him. This was as the gemara says – that one who disgraces clothing will end up having no pleasure from it.
Says Rav Itzele, everyone agrees that putting on layers of clothing will naturally warm a person. Hashem created the nature of clothing that they do indeed provide warmth. However, if one disgraces clothing, Hashem will remove the quality of warmth from his clothing and he won’t feel warm from them.
Says Rav Itzele, the gemara asks why was there a churban, yet we know that klal Yisroel at the time transgressed the three aveiros chamuros. The question really is, if klal Yisroel were learning Torah at the time, which they were, so why wasn’t the Torah able to protect them from those aveiros? Answers the gemara, because they didn’t say Birchas Hatorah! By not saying the brocha first, the people showed that Torah wasn’t important enough to them. And if you don’t appreciate the chashivus of Torah, then your learning will not have the power to protect you from sin. And without the protection of Torah, one can fall so low to the point that he transgresses the three cardinal sins.
It's not enough to learn Torah. You have to be machshiv Torah.
The Bnei Yisoschar was a big masmid at a very young age. They say that he was able to daven the entire yomim noraim davening with the piyutim by heart. How? When he was a young boy, he got sick and the doctors said he was straining his eyes and had to stop learning. He had tremendous ahavas hatorah and wasn’t able to stop. His father had no choice but to put him in a shed where there were no seforim. He searched through the shed until he found an old machzor. Parched for some Torah learning and left with no alternative, he learned the piyutim over and over again. That’s the kind of ahavas hatorah he had.
Rav Hutner said that when a person closes his gemara because he has to go to work, he should pay attention how he closes the gemara. Does he close it with pain that he must leave now? With excitement? With relief? Rav Hutner said that he once instructed the mashgiach in yeshiva that when the recess bell rings, he should look to see how the talmidim close their gemara when they go to recess. Are they closing their gemara reluctantly? That’s ahavas hatorah. That’s the only kind of learning that will save a person from sin.
The Mishna in Pirkei Avos perek 3:9 tells us that one who walks on the road while reviewing his Torah lesson and then interrupts his review and says “how beautiful is this tree”, the Torah considers it as if he bears guilt for his soul. The Ksav Sofer asks, what point is the Mishna making by saying that the person stops learning to say “how beautiful is this tree”? The point is that he was mevatel Torah – so just say that he is mevatel Torah. Who cares how he was mevatel Torah?
Says the Ksav Sofer, the Mishna is not referring to one who is just taking a stroll and stops to comment on the pretty tree. The Mishna is referring to one who has to go to work. Not everyone is zoche to sit and learn all day, and people do go to work. But with what attitude do you close your gemara and go to work? We should feel sad, reluctant, wishing we could stay in front of that gemara. But if we say, “Ah! What a beautiful tree!” - meaning that he’s enjoying the fact that he’s not learning – then the person is guilty. Yes, he may have a heter to stop learning; that’s not the problem. But his heart should feel heavy. He shouldn’t enjoy the fact that he’s mevatel Torah. And if he does enjoy, there is a problem with his attitude towards Torah and his Torah learning will not have the power to protect him from sin.
