Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Toras Chesed

In Eishes Chayil Shlomo HaMelech refers to תורת חסד, the Torah of kindness that is on her tongue. The Talmud is curious about this term Toras Chesed. What is the distinction between Torah of Chesed and Torah sans Chesed? It offers two answers. One is to distinguish between Torah studied for its own sake and Torah that is studied for ulterior motives. The second is to distinguish between one who studies with the intent to teach, and one who studies without the intent to teach.

The Maharal offers two approaches to understand what the Talmud's answers mean. God created the world in order to do infinite kindness (Chesed) for His creations. The Torah, serving as the blueprint of that creation, is therefore a document that is replete with Chesed. Proper study of Torah requires one to connect to the Chesed within. In the first answer, the Talmud is teaching us that one who studies Torah for its own sake has the ability to connect to the Chesed within. If one studies for ulterior motives he will be unable to connect to the Chesed. Alternatively the Talmud is answering that when one connects to the Chesed he should become an embodiment of that Chesed himself. Chesed from God is an infinite outpouring of goodness. Therefore, one who learns Torah in order to share his learning with others is embodying the Chesed of Hashem that is found within the Torah. One who studies without intent to learn is lacking that Chesed.

In his second approach, the Maharal explains that Torah, being the wisdom of Hashem, is infinite. If one learns Torah for ulterior motives he is forcing the Torah into his own, worldly, motives. He is taking it away from its state of infinity and constricting it within his self-constructed limitations. If someone learns Torah for its own sake he is connecting it to the infinite Chesed of Hashem. In the second answer of the Gemara if someone is learning Torah and intending to keep his knowledge to himself then he is constraining the infinite Torah within himself. If, on the other hand, he is learning it in order to share his knowledge with others, then he is treating the Torah as boundless in the manner of infinite Chesed.

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