The Mishna teaches: “He who walks along the path while learning Torah and pauses from his learning to remark ‘how lovely is this tree; how lovely is this furrow’—the Torah considers it as if he had forfeited his life” (Avot 3:7). Why should the consequence for mere distraction be so dire?
“Pauses in his learning” (הפסק ממשנתו) can be interpreted as “removes himself [from G-d], through his learning.” The Mishna describes an individual who strolls down the path of Torah but fails to connect to G-d and, quite the opposite, removes himself from G-d by using Torah to inflate his own ego. The egotistical scholar marvels at his accomplishments in Torah learning and declares “how lovely is this tree”—for “man is a tree of the field” (Devarim 20:19)—and “how lovely is this furrow”—for the verse states “plow for yourselves a furrow” (Yirmiyahu 4:3).
The Torah considers this attitude a mortal sin.
Par. 442
Translated by: Yechiel Krisch
Adapted from the teachings of the Mezritcher Maggid
