Man Was Meant to Struggle

Parshat בחוקותי begins with the words, אם בחוקותי תלכו, “If you listen to my statutes.” Rashi’s comment is that we need to be עמלים בתורה, struggle for the study and observance of Torah.

Because Torah is such a precious gift, it is not meant to come so easy. We have to be diligent and work hard to acquire it.

Pirkei Avot suggests פת במלח תאכל, that we should be satisfied with bread and salt and refrain from focusing on materialism. The focus should be on spirituality and involvement with Torah.

There is a Pasuk in the Book of Iyov that says, אדם לעמל יולד, that man was meant to struggle. This could mean that this is the nature of this world, that to attain anything of value, it comes only with hard work.

Rav Ovadia Yosef said that the word לעמל reflected another lesson. It represented a mnemonic saying ללמוד על מנת ללמד, that we study in order to teach.

Perhaps the knowledge that we live in a generation where there is so much ignorance of Torah, it should motivate us to study more. This way we will be able to do our share in educating those who know so little about the beauty of our religion.

It’s time to get into Shavuot mode, where we show our appreciation for Torah.