אַדְמוּ"ר הַצֶּמַח צֶדֶק בֵּאֵר מַה שֶׁמְּיַחֲסִים אֵשׁ לִפְנִימִיּוּת הַתּוֹרָה, לְפִי שֶׁהִיא הַנּוֹתֶנֶת חַיּוּת בְּגַלְיָא שֶׁבַּתּוֹרָה: אַז עֶר לעֶרעֶנט אַ הֲלָכָה אוּן וֵוייס אַז דִי זעֶלבּעֶ הֲלָכָה וועֶט עֶר לעֶרנעֶן נאָךְ מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה אִין גַּן עֵדֶן גִיט עֶס אַרַיין אַ פַייעֶרעֶל.

The Tzemach Tzedek once explained why pnimiyus haTorah (the Torah’s inner, mystical dimension) is likened to fire — because it vitalizes one’s study of the revealed dimensions of the Torah.1 “When a person studies a halachah and knows that after his 120 years in This Worldhe will study that same halachah in Gan Eden, it lights up a little fire within him.”2

Probing Beneath the Surface

The Sages teach:3 “Happy is he who arrives [in Gan Eden] with all his study in hand.” Since we live in a material world, the Torah deals with material concepts — questions of ownership, damages, rights and obligations — but the inner truth of these concepts is spiritual. In the spiritual world, the physical trappings of the Torah we have studied are removed and its inner truth is revealed. After 120 years in This World, when the soul becomes freed from the body, the Divine aspect of everything it studied down here becomes manifest. And there is no greater satisfaction for the soul than this.4

When a person understands this principle, implies the Tzemach Tzedek, he will not want to leave a free moment without Torah study, for each new idea will become a source of infinite pleasure in Gan Eden.