Chapter II

Let us understand this more clearly: There is Torah study and there is Torah knowledge. Torah study is the learning of Torah in order to know its laws so that one can perform mitzvos according to the Divine Will. Torah knowledge is the specific mitzvah of studying Torah for its own sake, for learning Torah is a mitzvah in and of itself.

Rabbah, the son of Rav Huna [in the statement quoted at the beginning of the maamar] addresses himself to the person who studies Torah but lacks yiras shomayim. Rabbah alludes to an individual who studies Torah and generates novel Torah interpretations, but whose performance of mitzvos remains unaffected. Such an individual's knowledge of the laws does not lead him to scrupulously observe the commandments; he takes lightly the actual performance of mitzvos in a beautiful manner. All this stems from a lack of yiras shomayim.

Such an individual uses his Torah knowledge to achieve the very antithesis of yiras shomayim. He seeks to find as many exclusions (heteirim) and relaxations (kulos) of the law as possible. He treats matters that are "kosher" only after the fact (bide'evid) as if they were permissible from the outset (lichatchilah). With his vast fund of knowledge, he thinks that he can purify that which is clearly impure, and make kosher that which is plainly treif. The Talmud1 tells of a student in the city of Yavneh who was so knowledgeable that he was able to offer 150 reasons for declaring an impure animal pure. Tosafos2 notes that there is no merit in declaring pure that which the Torah explicitly declares impure. The foundation of Torah is the yiras shomayim resulting from one's Torah knowledge, rather than knowledge in the abstract.

When one studies Torah, one should be aware that one is studying Divine Wisdom. G-d gave the Torah in an understandable manner, and indeed, the mitzvah of Torah knowledge requires its student to have a clear grasp of the Talmudic subject being studied. Nevertheless, Torah knowledge must be founded upon the principal that Torah is the word of G-d, and thus Divine. The verse3 says: "My tongue shall respond to Your utterance." Torah study must reflect the same faith as one who merely "repeats after the reader."4

Torah study and Torah knowledge require total concentration, so that the person is wholly absorbed in the matter he is studying. He must understand every detail clearly. We find in the Talmud5 that Sumches, a disciple of Rabbi Meir, would give 48 explanations for the Torah's declaring of an object either pure or impure. Gaining understanding of the many varied reasons behind the Torah's teachings is the true meaning of Torah study with yiras shomayim, for a clear knowledge of the varied reasons is in itself a matter of yiras shomayim, inasmuch as a person thereby comes to perceive Torah as Divine Wisdom.

In summary: Torah study and Torah knowledge are two distinct entities; Torah study is for the purpose of knowing how to perform the mitzvos, while Torah knowledge involves the particular mitzvah of learning Torah. [Should yiras shomayim be lacking,] Torah study can lead to the declaration that a prohibited matter is permissible. The foundation of Torah is yiras shomayim. When achieved, a person feels that Torah is Divine Wisdom.