Page 444 - BERESHIT

The glory, splendor, and beauty of Yaakov’s ‘voice’ of Torah faded away
upon his departure. A tzaddik’s presence confers splendor, which comes
from his deep relationship with Hashem. He learns Torah, which is
composed of the Names of Hashem. The word can be split into two:

which denotes anguish and distress, and which has the same
numerical value as the two Names of Hashem ( and ). This
alludes to the anguish caused by the departure of the Torah of Yaakov.

When Am Yisrael entered the Land, Yehoshua saw a Heavenly angel
looming over him. The angel said that originally he was sent to help the
Jews, but was stymied by their lack of Torah learning. Yehoshua stayed
up all night to learn Torah, and the next day’s battle was turned in their
favor.

Torah learning which brings us to action takes precedence over tefillah,
because it affects our lives so much more. Our level of learning also goes
up a notch and our learning come alive with the vibrancy of life. The
Torah is known as the ‘Law’ of Moshe, and is the underlying force behind
the laws of physics.

The Chida writes that the Avot learned together for a period of fifteen
years. When Avraham Avinu passed away, Yaakov was but fifteen years
old. This implies that Rivka brought Yaakov in his crib to hear his father
and grandfather learning together, to pick up the strains and vibrations of
Torah from his earliest days.