פרק ג', משנה ה': רבי נחוניא בן הקנה אומר: "כל המקבל עליו עול תורה, מעבירין ממנו על מלכות ועל דרך ארץ. וכל הפורק ממנו עול תורה, נותנין עליו על מלכות ועל דרך ארץ".
Chapter 3, Mishnah 5: Rabbi Nechunia, the son of Hakanah, would say, "One who accepts upon himself the yoke of Torah is exempted from the yoke of government duties and that of worldly cares. But one who casts off the yoke of Torah is saddled with the yoke of government duties and the yoke of worldly cares."
The Simple Explanation
The primary explanation of this Mishnah seems to be relatively straightforward. Most of us are saddled with the yoke of worldly, day-to-day cares. The Mishnah offers a solution to this burden. By accepting the yoke of the Torah, one is freed from all of these issues.
What is the yoke of Torah to which one must accept upon himself? The Rambam, in his commentary on the Mishnah, defines this phrase. It means constantly being involved in Torah study.
The Rambam explains why the yoke of the Torah exempts one from the yoke of worldly matters. The Sages tell us that "it says 'And the tablets are the work of Hashem's, and the writing is Hashem's writing, engraved (Hebrew Charus - חרות) on the tablets.' Do not read the word 'engraved' ("Charus - חרות) but rather freedom (Chairus - חירות). For without Torah study, there is no real freedom, unless he occupies himself with Torah study." Only through Torah study can he indeed be free. Here we see that only through Torah can one attain true freedom.
The Deeper Explanation
This can be understood by the Alter Rebbe's explanation in Tanya of a teaching of the Sages, which seems very difficult to understand. The Talmud declares, "Bar Hay-Hay said to Hillel, 'You shall return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him who serves G-d and him who has not served Him.' (The two expressions seem to be redundant.) 'The righteous' is the same as 'him who answered 'him that serves Him' and 'him that serves Him not'; both refer to such as are perfectly righteous. However, one that reviews his chapter a hundred times is not to be compared with one who reviews it a hundred and one times. Bar Hay-Hay responded, 'Because of reviewing one less time, he is called 'him who has not served Hashem'? (How can that be?) — He replied, 'Yes, go and learn from the donkey-drivers market. Renting out his service to go ten parasangs, they charge one zuz; for eleven parasangs, they charge two zuz.'"
The charge for donkey drivers renting out their services of mules and the number of times that one reviews his Torah lesson seems to have no connection. The Alter Rebbe explains this, "in those days, it was customary to review each lesson one hundred times, as, indeed, illustrated in the above Gemorah, by the example taken from the market, where donkey drivers used to hire themselves out at a rate of ten parasangs for one zuz, but for eleven parasangs charged two zuz. This was because that extra distance went beyond their customary practice. For the same reason, the 101st time reviewing his lesson, beyond the normal practice to which he had been accustomed since childhood, is considered equivalent to all the previous one hundred times together. It is even greater than them in endurance and effort. It, therefore, entitles him to be called 'one who is serving Hashem.'"
We are saying that the amount of Torah study needed to qualify as one who served Hashem is the amount needed to change one's very nature. The Hebrew word for service is "Oved - עובד." This is the same word that is used for tanning hides, "Ibud Oros – עיבוד עורות." This is what is meant by "the yoke of Torah," learning Torah in a manner that completely changes one's essence.
I hope you gained as much by reading this as I did by translating and adapting it.
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