The Tikun for "כתנות אור" Is Torah-Study
I would also like to introduce what the great Rabbi Avraham Simchah of Barniv, zy”a, writes in Chamra Tava (Vayikra). The mitzvah of writing a sefer-Torah is a tikun for transforming man’s body from a “garment of skin” back into a refined “garment of light.” By writing the text of the Torah on the “skin” of an animal, that animal hide is sanctified and transformed into an object of “light.” As it is written (Mishlei 6, 23): "כי נר מצוה ותורה אור"—for a mitzvah is a lamp (candle) and the Torah is light.
Let us embellish this sacred idea. How does this provide a tikun for man’s body that has deteriorated dramatically from being a “garment of light” to being a lowly “garment of skin”? Let us refer to the Gemara (Gittin 60b): "אמר רבי יוחנן, לא כרת הקב"ה ברית עם ישראל אלא בשביל דברים שבעל פה, שנאמר כי על פי הדברים האלה כרתי אתך ברית ואת ישראל"—Rabbi Yochanan said: HKB”H only entered into a covenant with Yisrael on account of the Oral Law, as it states (Shemos 34, 27): “For on account of these words have I entered a covenant with you and with Yisrael.”
In Tiferes Yisrael (Chapter 68), the Maharal of Prague explains—as understood by the brilliant author of the KetZos HaChoshen in Shev Shematita—that just like the written Torah requires a parchment to be written on, so, too, the oral Torah requires a sort of parchment—namely, the mouth the scholar that engages in the study of Torah she’b’al peh.
Now, from a sefer-Torah inscribed on a parchment prepared from an animal’s hide, the covenant and bond between Yisrael and their Heavenly Father is not that apparent. However, from the Torah that was given to Yisrael to be studied and transmitted orally, this relationship is ever so apparent. When a Jew’s mouth becomes so pure and refined that it functions as a parchment for Torah she’b’al peh, the reason for Rabbi Yochanan’s statement becomes apparent: “HKB”H only entered into a covenant with Yisrael on account of the Oral Law.”
A Man’s Body Is Transformed into a Torah Parchment
With this in mind, the Shev Shematita goes on to explain the statement of Rashbi in the Yerushalmi (Berachos 1, 2): "אילו הוינא על טורא דסיני בשעתא דאתיהיבת תורה לישראל, הוינא מתבעי קומי ד רחמנא דיתברי לבר נש תרין פומין, חד דהוה לעי באורייתא וחד דעבד ליה כל צורכיה". Had I been on Har Sinai when the Torah was given to Yisrael, I would have pleaded with HKB”H to create man with two mouths—one to engage in the study of Torah and one to perform all of his personal needs.
Let us elaborate. According to the Gemara (Shabbas 28a): "לא הוכשרו למלאכת שמים אלא עור בהמה טהורה בלבד"—the only hide fit for the service of Heaven is the hide of a kosher animal alone. Additionally, the hide must be processed l’shma, as per the halachic ruling (O.C. 32, 8). Similarly, a Jew’s mouth, which is the parchment of Torah she’b’al peh, must be pure and unsullied for the sake of the kedushah of the Torah. For this reason, Rashbi requested that a person have a special mouth exclusively for the study of Torah; that way he would not have to use it for silly, meaningless things that would detract from its kedushah—the kedushah of the parchment of Torah she’b’al peh.
Undoubtedly, the organ most involved with the study of Torah is the mouth. In reality, however, all of the bodily limbs and organs are obliged to participate in the study of Torah. Here is a pertinent passage from the Gemara (Eiruvin 53b): "ברוריה אשכחיה לההוא תלמידא דהוה קא גריס בלחישה, בטשא ביה אמרה ליה, לא כך כתוב ערוכה בכל ושמורה, אם ערוכה ברמ"ח איברים שלך משתמרת, ואם לאו אינה משתמרת". Beruriah (the wife of Rabbi Meir) came upon a certain student who was reviewing his studies quietly. She kicked him and said to him, “Is it not written (Shmuel II 23, 5): ‘Arranged in all and secure’? If it (your learning) is arranged in all your 248 limbs, then it is secure (and will not be forgotten); but if it is not, it will not be secure.”
The Maharsha provided the following clarification: Speaking out loud elicits feeling and movement of all the limbs (involving them in the learning process). This means that when a Jew studies Torah she’b’al peh, it is not only his mouth that becomes a parchment upon which the words of the Torah are imprinted, but his entire body is involved and is part of the parchment.
We can now appreciate the deeper significance of the mitzvah of writing a sefer-Torah on the hide of an animal. It teaches a person that through the study of Torah, he is able to heal himself by transforming his “garment of skin” into a “garment of light.” If a kosher animal, which is certainly on a lower level than a human being, is elevated to a “garment of light” through the process of having a sefer-Torah written on its “skin”; all the more so, if a Jew sanctifies his body through the study of Torah to become a parchment for the oral Torah, is he able to transform his “garment of skin” back into its original, intended form—a radiant “garment of light.”
