This applies to Bnei Torah as well who spend most of their time dedicated to Torah for two reasons; One – they must know how good their portion is to merit setting aside their time for Torah, for even a few moments of Torah are very valuable, how much more so when they can set aside many hours like this. Also, it is fitting that they not be satisfied with their set times for learning, rather they have to think about even the rest of their free time, for every moment of Torah is equal to a fortune, and the Ben Yeshiva should not be enticed by his yetzer which says to him, “The time you have set aside for your learning is commendable, now you can spend your time pleasantly and live a little”, since every moment of Torah earns eternal life.
My father, my teacher, always conducted himself with the obligation to use the moments, and he would explain how much good was hidden in spending one minute of Torah. He would say that Chazal would enumerate all the things that one gets their fruit in this world but the main part is preserved for him in Olam Habah – The World to Come (Peah 1:1), and everything is listed they say, 'ותלמוד תורה כנגד כולם' – ‘and the study of Torah is equivalent to all of them’. With every word in the Torah one fulfills the mitzvah of ‘Talmud Torah’ [learning Torah], and in one minute one can say 200 words. We find that in one minute we can attain 200 mitzvos which are equivalent to the entire Torah, and if so then woe to us if we lose even one minute.
It is also fitting to know that not only can these few minutes make an impression in the World Above, but one can sometimes even see fruit in this world from these things. It is told about HaGaon Rebbe Zelig Reuven Bengis, who once invited his friends to a siyum of Shas, and this was puzzling to them, since the Rav had only recently invited them to a siyum of Shas, and it was not likely that he finished all of Shas again so soon.
When the guests arrived, the Rav explained their bewilderment, and he told them, now he arranged a special, one-of-a-kind siyum of Shas. He revealed to them that aside from his set time to learn Shas, he had another schedule to learn Shas. As Rav of the city, people of the city came to honor him with various kibbudim [honors], ‘siddur kiddushin’, to be a sandek, and so on. He very much wanted to fulfill their requests and honor the hosts of the simcha, however on the other hand, he saw that this robbed him of much valuable time. Usually when he arrived, he would have to wait for the event to begin, and he was pained by the time lost of Torah study this caused, until he came up with the idea to make a special seder to learn Shas during these few minutes. And now, he was able to finish all of Shas in the merit of using these moments.
The Rav concluded and told the invited guests, “It would have been fitting that I not trouble you twice, and I could have waited a little and arranged one seudah for both siyumim, but then I wanted to teach you not to waste single moments, because these moments add up to a great sum...
Consider the moments and devote them to Torah
להחשיב את הרגעים ולהקדישם לתורה
וְהָיְתָה עִמּוֹ וְקָרָא בוֹ כָל יְמֵי חַיָיו לְמַעַן יִלְמַד לְיִרְ אָה אֶת ה' אֱלֹהָיו לִשְ מֹר אֶת כָל דִ בְרֵי הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹאת וְאֶת הַחֻקִ ים הָאֵלֶה לַעֲשׂתָם: (יז, יט)
It shall be with him, and he shall read from it all the days of his life, so that he will learn to fear Hashem, his G-d, to observe all the words of this Torah and these decrees, to perform the. (17:19)
The Yerushalmi (Sanhedrin 2:6) says regarding this posuk, ‘This is a kal v’chomer, if a king who is busy with the needs of Israel, it says about him, ‘and he shall read from it all the days of his life’, then certainly with an ordinary person.’
It seems from their words that the Torah is only referring to those who can set aside the main part of their time to Torah, but as for those who are busy earning a living and are mainly involved in mundane matters, the Torah comes to awaken them about their obligation to also set time for Torah. For even if they are busy with their businesses, they are not busier than the king, and if the king is obligated in this, then certainly they are obligated as well.
However, the truth of the matter is that this teaching is also relevant to those sitting in the tent and their Torah is their craft. In order to understand this, it is incumbent on us to remember that the king is a very busy man, he is concerned about all the issues of the people, their personal and general needs, peace for the interior and exterior, that his people live in harmony with one another, and that the enemy of other nations should not attack them. All this keeps him quite busy, and he must make all kinds of connections so that everything runs smoothly. It is self-evident that the king must be smart and a deep thinker, and as Chazal testified about this (Shabbos 11a), ‘Rava bar Mechasya said in the name of Rav Chama bar Gurya who said in the name of Rav, If all the seas were black ink, and the marshes were quills, and the heavens were parchments, and all the people were scribes, they would not suffice to record the depth of the mind of government.’
Even though his involvements are many as mentioned, the king is obligated in his unique mitzvah of ‘and he shall read from it all the days of his life’, that is, not only when peace exists between Israel and the nations camped around them, and not only when all the needs of the public run smoothly, and even when the other pressing matters of the kingdom require thought and decisions, still, the king is not exempt from being involved in Torah.
In light of what we have said, it is clear that the king was concerned about using all his free time for Torah, since it was impossible to know beforehand what the day would bring, and what he would be involved with all day long. Therefore, even if he only had one free minute, he would use it for Torah, and with these minutes the king earned ‘Torah’, for were he not accustomed to this, who knows if he would be able to keep this mitzvah?
Based on this we can understand how valuable every moment of learning Torah is. We can assess for ourselves how difficult it was for the king to distract his mind from the pressing concerns. Even so, he was obligated by the Torah to be involved in Torah, even though it is known beforehand that he will only have a few moments, still he is obligated by the Torah. The Torah already knew that he would be preoccupied, and it would be difficult for him to set aside only a few moments of Torah.
