Reb Elyah Lopian told the following story:
During the years of the first war, there was a great hunger in Eretz Yisrael, and one bachur became ill, a side effect of the hunger. Friends came to visit him during his hospitalization. "Who are they?" the son asked his father.
The father was upset when he heard that. It meant that his son's illness had affected his brain, as well. "They are your friends," the father said with a smile. "They came to visit you."
Sometime later, the son's situation worsened, and when his brother came to visit, the son asked his father, "Who is he?" "He is your brother," the father replied.
One day, the son asked the father, "Who are you?" The father cried. The illness became so great that his child didn’t recognize him anymore.
Reb Elyah Lopian explained that just as our bodies need food, our neshamos also need food. Torah and mitzvos are food for the neshamah. If we don't feed the neshamah with Torah, tefillah and mitzvos, we become very ill until we aren't even able to recognize our Father in heaven.
On the words of Rashi (19:6), לא פחות ולא יותר, "nothing less and nothing more," the Sar Shalom of Belz zy"a explains that Rashi's words hint that no one is less than someone who doesn't study Torah, and no one is greater than a person who does study Torah.
The Beis Aharon zt'l would say that he can't look in the face of someone who didn't study a daf Gemara that day.
Rebbe Shlomke Zhviler never spoke negatively about Yidden, but he once spoke very degradingly against those who don't study Torah.
Rebbe Moshe Mordechai of Lelov zy”a would say, “Someone who doesn’t study Gemara is “Nisht kein Yid un nisht kein mench,” not a Yid, and not even a human being.
It states (Bereishis 10:10), ותהי ראשית ממלכתו בבל, "His first kingdom was Bavel." Rebbe Moshe Mordechai of Lelov zt'l would say that this pasuk implies, "One should begin with Talmud Bavli.” That is the basis of being a Yid.
As we said above, everyone can succeed in Torah. Fortunate are those who set aside time for Torah study.
