“Say to the Children of Israel, take for me Terumah…” Shemos 25:2

The Ba’al HaTurim comments on this verse that the letters in the word Terumah can be rearranged to be Torah and the letter “mem”. This teaches us the Torah that was given after forty (the numeric value of the letter “mem”) days Moshe was on the mountain is given to the people that eat Terumah, which are the Cohanim. He also points out that it was given the people that ate the “mon” that fell from the sky every day when we walked in the desert for forty years.

The RAMBAM, in his discussion of the laws of Tumah (impurities) mentions that if a Cohain does not know the proper halachos (laws) of what makes a person pure or impure, then he is a “fool”. This is very strong language to call the Cohain a fool for not knowing a very difficult law. The commentators point out that the RAMBAM is correct in calling this Cohain a fool because during the time the Temple stood in Jerusalem, a Cohain only worked two weeks out of the year. All of the other days throughout the year, he was free to do whatever he wanted and would still receive his payment for it (like a paid vacation for 50 weeks of the year!). Therefore, the Cohain should spend most, if not all, of this free time, studying Torah and learning the proper halachos. If he wastes his time and does not learn, then he is a fool. Unlike most people, he can actually sit down and focus all of his energy on his learning without needing to worry about how he will make a living. He can connect to G-d and not be concerned what will be for dinner. Therefore, if a Cohain did not know the proper laws, he is a fool.

This is the reason the Ba’al HaTurim states that the Torah was given to those that eat Terumah and those that ate the “mon”. These people do not need to worry about making a living and therefore, have free time to learn Torah. They are foolish if they have the ability to learn and do not take advantage of them.

In our generation, we have resources that no other generation has had at our fingertips. We now have thousands of books in English and other languages that do not require a person to understand Hebrew or the very difficult Aramaic to be able to read from it. We also have the Internet, which has hundreds and hundreds of websites full of learning material. There are things to read and lectures to listen to. We can literally hear the greatest rabbis of our generation from the comfort of our living room. It used to be people would have to travel many miles to attend a yeshiva, but now everything is much easier. Even if we do not have much time, let’s try to find a few minutes to take advantage of these resources. We do not want to be put in the same category as the Cohain that could learn, but did not.

Good Shabbos!
-yes
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