Rashi relates that Yisro had seven names. One of them was Chovav, which means dear. Why was Yisro called Chovav? Because he cherished the Torah.
The love of Torah of HaRav HaGaon Mordechai Gifter zt”l knew no bounds, as the following stories heard at the hespeidim (eulogies) in Jerusalem illustrate.
Rav Gifter once went with his son-in-law, Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Feuer, to a diamond dealer in Manhattan. The dealer explained to the Rav the details about the size and value of the diamonds. Some of the diamonds were so small that their beauty could only be appreciated with a microscope. Yet, the dealer was very careful with each and every diamond, no matter how small. Rabbi Feuer related that Rav Gifter valued each and every word of Torah as a great treasure, in the same way that the diamond dealer valued even the smallest diamonds.
Once, Rabbi Feuer told Rav Gifter a chiddush (original Torah thought) on Mesechta Eruvin from one of his congregants. Upon hearing this, Rav Gifter was so elated that he got up, took his son-in-law’s hand, and began dancing around the dining room table singing, “Tov li Toras Picha me-alfei zahav vokesef” (The Torah of Your mouth is better for me than thousands in gold and silver - Tehillim 119:72).
The Rav was once giving a shiur (lecture) to the entire yeshiva. His shiurim were very deep and complicated, and to interrupt him was unthinkable. A young student stood up in the middle of the shiur and asked a question. Rav Gifter walked several feet across the room and gave this young man a big kiss on the forehead. That is how much he valued the student’s words of Torah.
The Radak explains the following verse in Tehillim (84:6). “Fortunate is the man whose strength is in You. It forms paths in his heart.” Constant learning and striving to increase the knowledge and wisdom of Hashem’s Torah will make paths into your heart. Each day, you will traverse those paths and strengthen them. That is the secret to love of Torah. Learn it constantly. It will enter your heart.
