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The Book of Deuteronomy – חומש דברים 18
Torah Portion Va'Etchanan
Torah portion Ve'Etchanan is read every year on the Shabbat after Tisha B'Av.
"And this is the Torah that Moshe put before the Children of Israel."
(4:44)
The Talmud (Yoma, 72) says on this verse:
If a person is worthy, the Torah becomes for him an elixir of life.
If he is not worthy, the Torah becomes for him a deadly poison.
[The word ָּשםin the verse and its parallel ַׁסםin the Talmud's commentary have
different spellings but the same sound (SAM). The word ָּשםmeans "put," and
the word ַׁסםmeans "medicine, drug", which could be either positive or
negative.]
The question is asked: how can the Torah be an elixir of life and also a deadly
poison?
The Vilna Gaon explains: the Torah is compared to rain.
The rain in its essence is good, but the results are dependent on the recipient.
When rain falls on the earth, then:
A place that is sown with wheat seeds will sprout wheat.
A place that is sown with thorns and thistles will sprout thorns and thistles.
So too man.
The heart of man is like the earth, and the Torah is like the rain.
When in the heart of man there are seeds of good character traits and love – the
Torah sprouts them and makes them bigger – it becomes for him an elixir of life.
When in the heart of man there are seeds of bad character traits and hatred – the
same Torah makes them bigger and sprouts them too – and it becomes a deadly
poison.
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