Q: What should a ben Torah do to prepare for Matan Torah?
A: He should sit and learn. He should get into the habit of learning. That’s very important.
But there’s one more thing. He should make the bracha on the Torah with more kavanah. Because we know that this was a ta’anah, a complaint, against the Am Yisroel; that they did not make a bracha before they learned Torah (Nedarim 81a). And the Ran says that what it means is that they didn't say the bracha with enough kavanah; they did make the brachos before learning but they didn’t have enough appreciation. So therefore, every ben Torah – not only a ben Torah, a working boy too; every frum Jew, boy and girl, should think, “How lucky I am that we received the Torah.”
If you didn’t have the Torah, what would you be already? You’d be nothing. Torah transforms your life. And even though you’re a man who’s in business, the Torah transforms your life. A mother at home is a different mother because of the Torah. A Jewish home is an entirely different institution than any kind of a home just because of the Torah. The Torah changes everything in us.
And therefore the Torah is our life in this world, and also it’s our Olam Haba. The Torah is forever and ever; it’s this world and the Next World. And so there’s no gift like the gift of Torah.
But if you’re asking about a ben Torah, so in addition to that, he should get busy learning the Torah as much as possible. We have to get into the habit of learning. The habit of learning is something you have to acquire. And you have to get a taste, a geshmak in learning. It should be sweet and delicious to you. Torah is sweeter than honey and the drippings of the honeycombs. You should try to get the impression that you’re eating something delicious when you’re learning; as if the Gemara was printed on chocolate cake and as you’re chewing the sugya, you’re enjoying. “Ah! A geshmake sugya it is.” That’s how you should get a geshmak in learning. You can do that if you try it. If you know that’s the purpose, you can do it. It actually becomes sweeter than honey and the drippings of the honeycombs.
So two things: Accustom yourselves to think about the great gift of the Torah. When we make the bracha on the Torah every morning, that’s a good time to practice up. Also, get a haggle, a practice in learning Gemara and learning all the time as much as possible. And try to get a taste for the sweetness of learning Gemara.
