TORAH STUDY

1) Through studying Torah all our prayers and requests are accepted and the favor and standing of the Jewish people are enhanced in the eyes of whoever they have need for, materially and spiritually (1:1).

2) Studying Torah with all your might gives power to the forces of holiness and strengthens the good inclination against the evil inclination (Ibid.).

3) If you labor in the study of Torah you will be able to understand the hints and meanings contained in all the different things in the world and use them as a means of coming closer to God. Even if you find yourself in a place of darkness where you might think it hard to draw close to God, true wisdom will radiate to you and you will be able to draw close to God even from there (Ibid.).

4) Nobody sins unless he is overcome by the 'spirit of folly' (Sotah 3a). The sins and damage a person may have done literally make him mad. This is why the majority of people suffer from all kinds of quirks and idiosyncrasies. The remedy is to study Torah intensively. The Torah consists entirely of the names of the Holy One, blessed-be-He, and it has the power to crush the evil inclination and banish all the madness and folly which cling to a person because of his sins (Ibid.).

5) One of the most subtle devices of the evil inclination is that rather than starting off by trying to persuade a person to do a blatant sin, it dresses itself up as if it wanted to persuade him to do an actual mitzva. But Torah study develops the sharpness and intelligence which will help you escape these devices (Ibid.).

6) Torah and prayer give strength to one another and illuminate each other (2:6).

7) When studying Torah it is necessary to articulate the words and say them aloud. Then the words themselves will illumine all the places where we have to repent, and in the end we will be able to achieve perfect repentance, which will outbalance all our sins. This is a continuous process: with each act of repentance we advance from level to level until we emerge from our own low level and are able to comprehend the true depths of Torah (11:1).

8) 53) No matter what a person is learning he should find himself in it: he should derive a personal lesson from what he is learning and recognize his own insignificance and lowliness.

9) The Torah possesses a unique pleasantness. The main thing is to be worthy of tasting this pleasantness and sweetness. You can attain this if you break your pride completely. Never take credit for yourself; give all the credit to God alone. Also through giving charity, especially charity for causes in the Land of Israel, you can draw from the 'mentality of the Land of Israel' and thereby taste the sweet pleasantness of the wisdom of the Torah (Likutey Moharan II, 71).