Notice how Birchos HaTorah is loaded with concern for a person’s children and his grandchildren, and: ו צֶאֱצ אֵיִעַמּ ך בֵּית י שֹּ ר אֵל the children of other Jews as well. When a Yid learns Torah, he has to realize that he is not there for his own Shteiging only, but he has to have in mind others; i.e., you learn in order to teach others.
Notice how the Rambam starts off Hilchos Talmud Torah with saying that a child (under Bar Mitzva, who is not yet obligated in Mitzvos) his father is obligated to teach him Torah. But a mother is not obligated to teach her children; the reason is because she is not obligated to learn herself: שִֶׁכ לִהִַחִַי ִיבִל לִמוֹדִחִַי ִיבִל לִַמִֵד and only one who is obligated to “learn” is obligated to “teach”. This is a powerful Yesod: Whoever is obligated to learn Torah is also obligated to teach. And the Rambam continues that just as you need to teach your son, so do you have to teach your friend’s son.
Learning Torah means giving to others! And notice how the Kodesh HaKodoshim has K’ruvim who were images of babies. It sounds like thinking of others is the Ikar, and you learn in order to help others learn. The Bracha says it all. Every time a Yid makes Birchos HaTorah, he is heavily involved in Zikkui HaRabbim!
People think that Zikkui HaRabbim is a sideline, and if your good at it, only then do you get involved. From Birchos HaTorah we see that your own Torah is meant to be an opportunity for helping others. First, your own children, and then the children of others! ו צֶאֱצ ִאֵיִעַמּ ך בֵּית י שֹּ ר אֵל כֻלָנוּ יוֹד עֵיִשׁ מֶך We should ALL know your Name.
When you say Birchos HaTorah, you are having in mind that the whole Klal Yisroel should learn! כֻלּ נוּ יוֹד עֵיִשׁ מֶך ו לוֹמ דֵיִתוֹר ת ך ל שׁ מ הּ We should ALL know your Name and learn Your Torah, Li'shmah. Having Hashem in mind is the real reason for learning Torah; i.e., to know Hashem and become close to Him. Recently, there was an article in a popular magazine about a Yerushalmi Melamed.
STORY
He had been teaching the Parshiyos of Sh’mos, Va’era, Bo, B’shalach, and Yisro for many years, and one year he stopped. This year, he decided to teach Mishpatim instead, and he got sick, Rachmana Litzlan. He had a dream, in which he saw these Parshiyos came to him. They complained to him that since they are loaded with basic Emuna in Hashem, he did an: עִַו ִלה injustice by stopping to learn them (of course learning Parshas Mishpatim is also Kodesh Kodoshim!)
The Rambam says that he’d rather teach Emuna more than anything else (notice how the Rambam refers to it as teaching). Also: ו הַעֲרֵבִנ א “making the Torah Geshmak” is part of Birchos HaTorah for good reason. Learning with Geshmak isn’t a sideline, and Stam a Ma'ala in learning Torah. If part of the Nusach of Birchos HaTorah is “make it sweet”, then we see how being Geshmak is an integral part of learning Torah.
So, when a Yid looks to Shteig and to go up in his learning, he should realize that everything is just for helping others! The Netziv says that Avraham Avinu was mainly about learning Torah. Yet we know that he...
R' Chaim of Volozhin says
that a person was created to give others. This is the very essence of a human being.
