מעלת וחובת לימוד התורה בשבת
The virtue and obligation to learn Torah on Shabbos
כִּי אַתֶּם עֹבְרִּים אֶּת הַיַרְדֵּן לָבֹא לָרֶּשֶּת אֶּת הָאָרֶּץ אֲשֶּר ה' אֱלֹקֵּ יכֶּם נֹתֵּן לָכֶּם וִּירִּשְתֶּם אֹתָהּ וִּישַבְתֶּם בָהּ :(יא :לא )
For you are crossing the Yarden to come and take possession of the land that Hashem, your G-d, gives you; you shall possess it and you shall settle in it. (11:31)
The Tur (Orach Chaim 290) quotes the Midrash: ‘The Torah said before HaKadosh Baruch Hu, “Ribono shel Olam, when Israel enters the Land, this one will run to his vineyard, this one will run to his field, and what will become of me?” He told her, “I have a match for you and Shabbos is its name, on which they stop working and are able to learn you.”’ The Tur concludes, ‘Therefore, we must set time on Shabbos to learn, to know the laws of Hashem and His Torah, and we are not allowed to set a meal at the time of Bais HaMedrash.’
See also the Medrash (Tanchuma Parashas Vayakhel), ‘HaKadosh Baruh Hu said to Moshe, “Go down and make large groups about Shabbos, so that all the generations that come after you will gather in groups on every Shabbos, and they will enter shuls and Batei Midrash to learn Torah publicly in them,’
You learn from their words that the obligation to rest on Shabbos, aside from our testifying our emunah in our Creator Who rested on the first Shabbos, we also testify regarding the connection of Bnei Yisrael to the Torah and to its Giver. The rest of the week most people are busy earning a living, and barely have time to learn Torah, therefore, HaKadosh Baruch Hu wanted Israel to have one day when they abandon their worries, and their minds and hearts are free to study Torah, and they will understand from their learning what their obligation is in their world.
This topic is hinted at in the posuk before us. It is found in the writings of the Arizal (see Shaar HaKavanos Birchas Baruch Atah Hashem), that the word 'אתה' – ‘you’ hints to the Torah, since the letters א' ת' hint to the 22 letters which begin with א' and end with ת', and the ה' teaches the five end letters מנצפ"ך, and all these letter form the words and posukim in the Torah.
Based on this introduction, we can say that this matter is hinted at in the posuk before us. ‘For you are crossing the Yarden to come and take possession of the land’, you should know that ‘you shall possess it’ – the merit to possess the land is ‘you’ – the Torah is prepared for you, that is, you should learn Torah, for through this you will merit to cling to Hashem Yisbarach and you will be a treasured nation [am segulah] to Him, and when are you obligated to learn Torah? ‘when you settle in it’ - when you consecrate the Shabbosos by observing them, for then you will be free from your weekday activities.
I found another hint to this topic in a posuk in Tehillim (39:13), 'כי גר אנכי עמך תושב ככל אבותי' – ‘for I am a visitor with you, a traveler like all my forefathers’. The Jew says before his Creator, ‘Even with all my worries in matters of this world and I am far from serving You as I should, ‘for I am a visitor with You’ – I am like a stranger to You, still ‘a traveler’ when Shabbos comes [תשב has the same letters as שבת] I come close to You and serve You ‘like all my forefathers’ from past generations, for then I can set aside much time to study Torah, and through it become closer to You, Hashem.
From here we have an open rebuke to homeowners who are busy earning a living six days a week, and they do not have time to learn properly, and they are satisfied by just fulfilling setting aside time for Torah, and sometimes even this is not enough. When the day of rest arrives and he rejoices on the holy Shabbos, do not waste time on nonsense, and reading about current events, and other empty things. Rather, fulfill by yourself what is said in Tanna Dvei Eliyahu (Perek 1), ‘Even though the person works six days a week, Shabbos should be made entirely for Torah.’
But from our words there is room for error. One might say that this applies just to people who work all week and they do not have enough time to learn Torah properly, they must at least sanctify Shabbos with learning Torah, for it was people like these that the Torah complained to HaKadosh Baruch Hu: ‘This one will run to his vineyard, this one will run to his field,’ and because of this ‘and what will become of me?’ But those who spend their entire week involved in Torah, perhaps they do not have the obligation to set aside this day for Torah?
I say to you, look at what the Shelah HaKadosh wrote (Shabbos Perek Ner Mitzvah) that this is not the way the person should choose for himself, ‘Although it is brought in the Yerushalmi (Shabbos 15:3), Rebbe Chagi bar Shmuel bar Nachman said, “Shabbosos and Yamim Tovim were only given for eating and drinking...” and Rebbe Brechya in the name of Rebbe Chiya bar Abba said, “Shabbosos and Yamim Tovim were only given to learn Torah.” Tanchuma explains that they are not arguing. What Rebbe Brechya said about learning Torah, these are the workers who are busy all week and Shabbos is set aside to learn Torah. What Rebbe Chagi said about enjoying the chag, these are the talmidei chachamim who learn Torah all week and they enjoy Shabbos. Chas v’chalilah! It does not mean that they should spend the whole day enjoying, rather they should enjoy more than the other days, but chalilah to leave the Torah, everyone agrees that the Torah was given on Shabbos (Shabbos 86b), and just the opposite, a person is obligated to find a novel aspect of the Torah on every Shabbos, as written in the Zohar (Cheilek 3 173b), that on motzaei Shabbos when the neshama yeseira goes back to its place, HaKadosh Baruch Hu asks it, “What novel thought was found in the Torah?”’
Rebbe Isser Zalman Meltzer once expressed that he is always amazed that there are many yeshiva boys in the tents of Torah, yet only some of them elevate to be Gedolei HaTorah. Only after he established his yeshiva in Yerushalayim did it become clear. Then he was able to observe how the boys conducted themselves during the breaks in the yeshivas. He saw how the boys prevented their growth. Every day there are two breaks, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Every week there is a longer break on Friday and Shabbos. Another long break every half year, in the months of Nissan and Tishrei. All these breaks can cause a person to lose his enthusiasm.
Perhaps this is hinted at by the Navi Yirmiyahu (Eichah 1:4), 'דרכי ציון אבלות מבלי באי מועד' – ‘The roads of Tzion are in mourning for lack of holiday pilgrims’, for the word ‘mourning’ hints at stagnating, without elevating in Torah and Avodas Hashem, for mourning is for the dead, and the dead are ‘idle’ since they can no longer keep the Torah and mitzvos. This posuk hints that the reason is considered idle, and does not elevate in Torah and avodah, is because they do not utilize their time properly during the holidays, Shabbosos and Yamim Tovim which were given to Israel to learn Torah. But one who utilizes his time even on Shabbos for Torah will truly merit to elevate in levels of torah and yirah.
