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54 | FESTSCHRIFT

invisible. He comes in and sits down with me, sometimes looking
over my shoulders. It is a simple idea, not mystical at all. Our sages
already stated that “the presence of God dwells among [those who
occupy themselves with the Torah]. . .

We all believe that the One who gave us the Torah has never desert-
ed the Torah. He simply walks and accompanies the Torah wherever
the Torah has, let us say, a rendezvous, an appointment or date, with
somebody. The Giver of the Torah is there! 16

Rabbi Soloveitchik elsewhere described an identical experience:

I am not a Kabbalist nor a mystic, so when I speak of the nearness
of God, it is something I feel when opening the pages of the Talmud
in order to study. When I am thus immersed in study, I feel as if
the Almighty is there standing behind me, putting his hand on my
shoulder, looking with me at the text lying on the table and asking
me about it. This is not something I imagine. For me this is a true-

to-life experience. 17

What is the gift of Torah? The gift of Torah has many dimensions. It contains “those

actions which are desirable for Him through which we will inherit eternal life” (Ram-
ban). It provides us with an opportunity to perform a mitzvah (Gr”a). It makes it pos-
sible for the Jewish people to forge a close direct relationship with God (Rabbenu
Yonah, Bac”h, Rabbi Soloveitchik). Indeed, what a great gift it is.

16 Ibid., pp. 200-02. This is from a talk the Rav delivered on June 19, 1975.
17 R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik, in Pinchas Peli, ed., On Repentance (Northvale, 1996), 303. For the original He-
brew, see Al ha-Teshuvah (Jerusalem, 1974), 296.