Rabbi Yossi states: Whoever honors the Torah his body is honored by creatures and whoever desecrates Torah, his body is desecrated by creatures.
There are various interpretations as to what type of honor or desecration of the Torah is referred to in this Mishna. Rashi says that the desecration of Torah referred to here is leaving a Sefer Torah (or Sefarim) lying on a bench on which one may sit (at the same level). Rabbeinu Bechaye writes that it refers to one who places a Chumash on top of a Sefer Torah or a Navi on top of a Chumash or a volume of Kesuvim on top of a volume of Neviim. A person who respects the hierarchy of sanctity in Scriptures will be honored and vice versa.
The Chida in his Sefer Chasdei Avos explains this Mishna based on a very strange incident. Two people died on the same day and had their funerals scheduled for the same time. One was a great scholar, a pious and beloved personality. The other was the tax collector in town who was despised by everyone (in an era where the franchise was purchased from the ruler and when tax collectors were known to be unscrupulous and corrupt individuals who squeezed everyone for as much money as they could get out of them).
Everyone in town came to the funeral of the scholar and only the family of the tax collector came to bury their relative. It so happened that the two funeral processions which were moving along in close proximity to one another were attacked by robbers. Everyone abandoned the coffins and fled for their lives except for one disciple of the scholar who managed to hide himself from the robbers. A couple of hours later after the robbers left, the entourage of mourners returned to resume the funeral. Somehow the coffins were mixed up and the large group of people thinking it was the scholar picked up the coffin of the tax collector and the tax collector’s family picked up the coffin of the scholar and they proceeded to bury the one with great eulogies and a massive show of respect and the other was buried in a very modest and low-key ceremony by the immediate family of the tax collector.
The disciple who had protested to the people to no avail that they had the wrong coffins was very upset about the matter until his teacher came to him in a dream 3 days later and explained the matter.
‘Do not worry. I am in Gan Eden and the tax collector is in Gehinnom [Hell]. What happened, you want to know? One time, I was present when someone shamed another Torah scholar and I did not object. Another time, the tax collector prepared a tremendous feast for the governor who sold him the tax franchise and the governor did not show up. As bad a person as he was, on that occasion the tax collector gave the prepared food to poor Torah scholars so that it not go to waste. I needed to receive my punishment for my oversight and he needed to receive his reward for his kindness.’
The Chidah uses this story to explain the Mishna: Whoever honors the Torah even one time — even this despicable tax collector — will receive reward for that effort such that his body will be honored by people. Likewise, anyone who allows Torah to be desecrated, even one time — as great as he otherwise was — will receive punishment such that his body will suffer lack of honor by people.
