בְּשַׁעַת קְרִיאַת עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְּרוֹת עוֹמְדִים וּפְנֵיהֶם אֶל הַסֵּפֶר תּוֹרָה.

During the public reading of the Ten Commandments,1 the congregants stand and face the Torah scroll.2

וְדִבַּרְתָּ בָּם בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ גו', וְאָמְרוּ רַזַ"ל: וְדִבַּרְתָּ בָּם, בְּדִבְרֵי תּוֹרָה הַכָּתוּב מְדַבֵּר. אָמְנָם בְּעֵסֶק הַתּוֹרָה גּוּפָא יֵשׁ כַּמָּה חִלּוּקֵי מַדְרֵגוֹת, וּמְבַאֵר כַּאן כָּל הַמַּדְרֵגוֹת: בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ הוּא מַעֲמַד הַנְּשָׁמָה לְמַעְלָה בְּאוֹצַר הַנְּשָׁמוֹת, קוֹדֶם יְרִידָתָהּ לְמַטָּה, וְעוֹסֶקֶת שָׁם בַּתּוֹרָה. בְּלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶרֶךְ — קָאֵי עַל הַזְּמַן שֶׁהַנְּשָׁמָה יוֹרֶדֶת מֵעוֹלָם לְעוֹלָם וּמִמַּדְרֵגָה לְמַדְרֵגָה, עַד בּוֹאָהּ לְמַטָּה לָעוֹלָם הַתַּחְתּוֹן לְהִתְלַבֵּשׁ בְּגוּף גַּשְׁמִי וּמַתְחִיל לָלֶכֶת בְּדֶרֶךְ עוֹלָם זֶה עַד יְמֵי זִקְנָה וְשֵׂיבָה, עַד וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ בְּבוֹא יְמֵי פְּקוּדָּתוֹ, וְגַם אָז הִנֵּה הַתּוֹרָה תִּשְׁמוֹר עָלָיו כִּמְבוּאָר בְּשִׁשִׁי דְּאָבוֹת, עַד וּבְקוּמֶךָ כָּאָמוּר וַהֲקִיצוֹתָ גו'.

It is written:3 “You shall speak of them when you sit [in your home and when you walk on the road, when you lie down and when you rise].” Our Sages taught:4 “The command that ‘you shall speak of them’ refers to words of Torah.”

[Every soul, in the course of its supernal prehistory and its mundane life story, passes through] several levels in its involvement in Torah study, and this verse alludes to them all:

When you sit in your home refers to the soul’s presence in the spiritual realm, in the abode of souls,5 where it is involved in Torah study before it descends below;

as you walk on the road alludes to the time of the soul’s descent from one spiritual world to the next, and from one level to another, until it reaches this lowly world and is enclothed in a physical body, to then make its way through the world, until it reaches old age —

until the time when you lie down, the day when the soul is summoned [back to the higher world]; then, too, the Torah protects him, as stated in Avos, chapter 66

and until the time when you rise, as it is written,7 “And when you awake [at the Resurrection of the Dead, it shall speak for you].”8

Delving Deeply

The Torah is the medium through which G‑dly energy reaches our world. To borrow the metaphor of the Sages,9 “The Holy One, blessed be He, looked into the Torah [as His blueprint] and created the world.”

On the individual level as well, every phase of existence, from the origin of the soul until its final judgment, is accompanied by the Torah one has studied — but not as a companion separate from oneself. Thus, comparing the degree to which the Torah is fused with the individual, and the degree to which the observance of other commandments is fused with the individual, the Alter Rebbe explains10 why Torah study is described as the “food” of the soul in Gan Eden, whereas the mitzvos are described as the “garments” of the soul.11 For Torah study becomes ingested and internalized to the point that it becomes part of one’s flesh and blood.