For a 10% discount on Rabbi David Sutton's new book A Daily Dose of Preparation for Yamim Noraim click the link below https://www.artscroll.com/Book s/9781422645086.html Acknowledging and Appreciating the Torah Welcome to our special Elul series on Hovot HaLevavot, Sha'ar Cheshbon HaNefesh . We're now up to the fourth spiritual accounting, which focuses on appreciating a gift from God that exists outside of ourselves: the Torah . The author of Hovot HaLevavot , Rabbi Bachya ibn Pekudah, explains that the Torah is meant to awaken us, to bring life to us in this world and the next. The Torah is described as "honored and faithful" ( נכבדת נאמנה ). As we say in Tehillim , "The testimony of God is faithful" ( עדות ה' נאמנה ). The Torah's loyalty and trustworthiness serve several crucial purposes: It Removes Our Spiritual Blindness: The Mesillat Yesharim by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto compares a person who goes through life without their spiritual eyes open to a blind man walking on the edge of a cliff. The only thing that can remove this spiritual blindness is the Torah, which "brings us to be enlightened" ( תורה מביא לידי זהירות ). It Burns Away Foolishness: The Torah has the power to burn away a person's foolishness. This concept is illustrated by a story in Navi where a prophet sends foxes with torches through fields to burn them. Similarly, when a person teaches Torah to the masses, they are burning away their foolishness. It Enlightens Our Eyes: Even when we're not blind, darkness can obscure our path. The Torah lights our way, as we say, "Enlighten our eyes with Your Torah" ( והאר עינינו בתורתך ). It Brings Us Closer to God's Will: As we say, "Return us, our Father, to Your Torah" ( השיבנו אבינו לתורתך ), and then, "and bring us close, our King, to Your service" ( וקרבנו מלכנו לעבודתך ). We can't serve God or know what He wants until we learn His Torah. It Reveals God's Truth: God gave us a "Torah of Truth" ( תורת אמת ). Through it, we come to know God's truth and His very existence. It Guides Our Actions: The Torah tells us what we need to do in this world, giving us the tools for success in this life and the next. This is the meaning of the verse in Tehillim , "The Torah of God is perfect; it restores the soul" ( תורת ה' תמימה משיבת נפש ), and "it gladdens the heart" ( משמחי לב ). The Gift of Torah The Hovot HaLevavot then uses a powerful technique of imagining the Torah being taken away from you, only to be returned. We hear stories of people in concentration camps who traded their meager food rations for a single page of Gemara. Imagine how thankful you would be to someone who gave it back to you after you'd lost it. The author emphasizes that we are not talking about a person who gave us back the Torah, but God Himself—the Creator, who not only gave us the Torah but also arouses us to it and helps us understand it. Every day, when we sit down to learn, we don't realize that we say, " He gives the Torah " ( נותן התורה ), as God is continuously giving and teaching us the Torah. This concept is highlighted in a story about Rav Chaim Kanievsky. A convert on his way to conversion expressed second thoughts, telling Rav Chaim that he couldn't grasp the Gemara. He felt that since learning was so fundamental to Judaism, perhaps he wasn't fit to convert. Rav Chaim responded, "It's not your fault, you don't have a good teacher." When the convert protested that he had the best rabbi, Rav Chaim clarified, "A Jewish person has God as a teacher, He gives the Torah . When you convert, you will get that Teacher as well." The least we can do to show our appreciation for this great gift is to cling to the Torah and use it. A person who receives a gift shows appreciation by using it. Similarly, we must learn the Torah and keep its mitzvot (commandments). King David said in a verse, "I hurried and did not delay" ( חשתי ולא התמהמהתי ) in my love for Your Torah. "How sweet Your words are to my palate" ( מה נמלצו לחכי ). This is a fundamental point: we must appreciate the incredible gift God has given us in the Torah. This is why we are commanded to make a blessing every morning over the Torah, acknowledging that "He chose us from all the nations and gave us His Torah" ( שבחר בנו מכל העמים ונתן לנו את תורתו ). We ask that it be "sweet in our mouths" ( והערב נא ). We know the Beit HaMikdash (Holy Temple) was destroyed because the people did not make a blessing on learning the Torah, showing they did not appreciate this great gift. This, then, is the fourth gift we must account for: the Torah.