Torah Study as a Revelation from Above and Its Contrast with Prayer

In other words, the idea of Torah study is a revelation from Above to below. It comes from Atzilus, a place of eternal Light. It reveals the truth of Hashem that He is beyond the limitations of time, space, and levels. In fact, Torah study has, in a certain sense, an opposite system to that of prayer. Torah starts off in a place of eternal light and shines down into the darkness of our world. This is the opposite of prayer, which starts off in our spiritually dark world and works upwards towards the Light.

Since the Light of Torah study is from Atzilus, from a place of eternal unchanging Light, it is called “a continual lamp.” Whereas the Light of prayer, the Menorah of Aharon, is called a lamp that burns “from evening until morning.”