Musar su Levitico 7:78

[Torah study is] greater than all the sacrifices, for thus have Chazal expounded (Rosh Hashanah 18a): “(I Samuel 3:14): ‘The iniquity of Eli’s house will not be purged with sacrifice or offering forever.’ Rava said: ‘It cannot be purged with sacrifice or offering, but it can be purged with words of Torah.’” And thus does Scripture state (Vayikra 7:37): “This is the Torah for burnt-offering, meal-offering, and sin-offering, etc.” And they have said (Menachoth 110a): “If one occupies himself with Torah, it is as if he sacrificed a burnt-offering, as if he sacrificed a meal-offering, as if he sacrificed a sin-offering, as if he sacrificed peace-offerings.” And this is the language of the holy Zohar, Parshath Shelach 159a: “

And we find in Midrash Tehillim 49:2: "'To the chief musician, to the sons of Korach, a psalm.' This is as Scripture says (Koheleth 11:7): 'And sweet is the light, and good for the eyes.' How sweet is the light of the world to come. Happy is the man who has the good deeds to see that light, as it is written (Judges 5:31): 'And His lovers [will be] as the rising of the sun in his might.'" R. Abba said: "How sweet are those things which are compared to light. As it is written (Mishlei 6:23): 'For a mitzvah is a lamp, and Torah, light, etc.' Happy is the man who sees the Torah white as snow, for there is no end to its reward. When the Holy One Blessed be He will come to pay Israel the reward of the toilers in Torah and will bestow upon them of the secreted light in its merit — at that time they will say to the peoples of the world: 'We merited [this] because we occupied ourselves with Torah. And you used to say to us: "You are wearying yourselves for nothing." — See its reward!' As it is written (Psalms 49:2): 'Hear this [zoth] all you people.' And 'zoth' is the Torah.' (Psalms, Ibid.): 'Hear, all you dwellers of the earth [chaled]' — these are the men who raise rust [chaludah] in Gehinnom. And who are they? (Ibid. 3): 'Both the sons of "Adam" and the sons of "Ish."' "Adam" — this is Abraham, viz. (Joshua 14:15): 'the great man [Adam] among the giants.' Also the sons of Adam' — Yishmael and the sons of Ketura. 'Also the sons of Ish' — the sons of Noach, who was called ish tzaddik (Bereshith 6:9). Another interpretation: These are the idolators, who descend to Gehinnom. (Ibid.): "rich and poor together" — rich in Torah and poor in Torah. "rich" — Doeg and Achitophel. Even though they were heads of sanhedrin, they descended to Gehinnom. "and poor in Torah" — one who can learn but does not learn. Therefore, the sons of Korach said (Ibid. 4): 'My mouth shall speak wisdom' — the wisdom of Torah; 'and my heart shall meditate understanding' — the understanding of Torah. (Ibid. 5) 'I will incline my ear to a parable' — the parable of Torah." And this is the language of the holy Zohar, Parshath Vayeshev:"

כל חלב וכל דם לא תאכלו . The prohibition to eat any kind of חלב ודם, fat of the animals or their blood (7,25-26), is based on the fact that these parts of the animal represent its strength, its essence.

I want to add a few words in connection with 22,1 that we must not idly watch the ox or lamb of a fellow-Jew outcast. Let me preface my remarks with a comment by the Kabbalists on the transmigration of souls. The words of the saintly Rabbi Solomon Alkabez [who composed the famous Lecha Dodi which we sing every Friday night, Ed.] describe these concepts in the clearest terms. I have therefore chosen to quote from his works: "On the day the Lord created Adam (Man) on earth He equipped him with 248 luminaries [in the sense of inspirations. Ed.] which contained the details of the highest spiritual regions, אצילות, within which are found His statutes, social laws, and moral instructions. The function of the positive commandments is not only to enable man to live in this spiritual world, but also to enable him to live on this earth as a form of secondary existence, i.e. בצלם. G–d also created man with 365 sinews corresponding to the 365 negative commandments. When G–d "blew" the soul of life from the most refined spiritual regions into Adam's nose, Adam, so to speak, brought a soul equipped with all these מצות into this earthly existence. These מצות formed the attire of Adam's soul and not a single one was missing. Becoming guilty of "losing" even one of all these מצות is a mortal sin which results in one's soul's inability to attain the place assigned to it in the highest Spiritual Spheres. The distance one will be short of in attaining one's goal is in direct ratio to the number of מצות one has not fulfilled. If one has not only failed to fulfill all the positive commandments but has even become guilty of transgressing negative commandments, the result is an even greater distance between the place one occupies and the place one should have occupied in the Spiritual Regions. G–d, in His great pity for His creatures, has made thoughtful provisions so as not to totally cast out a sinner. This is why He established the principle of re-incarnation, i.e. transmigration of souls. By allowing a soul to return to earth once more, it is given a "second chance" to rehabilitate itself and recapture its original place in the world of the spirits. This principle of transmigration of souls is applied in three different ways, corresponding to the attributes in which our three patriarchs excelled respectively. Some souls do not return to earth because they have to rehabilitate themselves for positive commandments neglected or for negative commandments which they transgressed when they were on earth previously. The only reason they return to earth is in order to perform acts of kindness for the people of their respective generations. Details of this are explained in ספר הפליאה, ספר התמונה, and ספר לבנת ספיר. The Torah alludes to this in Deut. 3,26: ויתעבר ה' בי למענכם. The term עבור is compared to גלגול, both meaning a kind of "transfer." Moses is in effect telling the Jewish people that his being transferred from this world at that time and place was for their own good. This paralleled the attribute of חסד which Abraham excelled in.

When Moses (in his parting address to the Jewish people in פרשת וזאת הברכה) wanted that his blessing should apply to the people of Israel, he "awoke," or activated the six "pillars." The word אשדת in 33,2 is to be read as two words אש דת. The letters in those two words represent the first letters each of the four pillars אמת-שלום-דין תורה. The other two "pillars" חסד-עבודה are mentioned by Moses a little while later in verse 8 where Moses speaks of תמיך ואוריך לאיש חסיד"ך, referring to the tribe of Levi. Moses goes on to say in verse 10: ישימו קטורה באפך. We know that the choicest of all sacrifices i.e. עבודה is the incense, קטורת. At the very end of his blessings (verse 26), Moses speaks of רכב שמים בעזרך, that with Israel's (i.e. Yeshurun, Israel in its most ideal state) help G–d "rides" the heavens. When Isaiah 66,1 has G–d describe the Heaven as His throne, this is a reference to "G–d riding." When Moses says in 33,25 at the end of the blessings: וכימיך דבאך, "Your strength corresponds to Your days," this is an allusion to the six days of Creation. The six pillars are also called days. Torah is called "day," as we know from Exodus 19,1 where Israel's arrival at Sinai- the source of Torah- is described as occurring ביום הזה, "On 'this' day they arrived in the desert of Sinai." Rashi comments that the reason the Torah employs the words ביום הזה, "on this day," instead of the more appropriate ביום ההוא, "on that day," is to urge us to love the words of Torah as dearly to-day as on the day they were first received thousands of years ago. We know that עבודה is called "day" because the Torah (Leviticus 7,38) writes in connection with the service in the Temple: ביום צוותו, from which we derive that the service has to be performed by day. The connection between the pillar גמילות חסדים and "day" is found in Psalms 42,9: יומם יצוה ה' חסדו, "May G–d command His kindness by day." Our sages (Chagigah 12b) say that anyone who is preoccupied with Torah study at night will have a thread of G–d's kindness extended across to him from the day. We know that the pillar דין is related to "day" from Deut. 21,16: והיה ביום הנחילו את בניו, "On the day he will transmit his estate to his sons as an inheritance, etc." Judgments are not handed down at night. The pillar אמת is the integration of two opposing forces. This corresponds to the concept "day" which is the harmonious blending of opposites i.e. evening and morning into a single unit (Genesis 1/5).