Personality Development

The Eternal Value of Time: How Every Moment of Torah Study Shapes Your Soul and Destiny

How Maximizing Every Minute Through Torah Can Bring Blessing, Purpose, and Eternal Reward

(Photo: shutterstock)(Photo: shutterstock)
אא
#VALUE!

As explained in Nefesh HaChaim in the name of Tikkunei Zohar, we must reflect on the precious value of every single moment: "The garments one wears in the morning are not the same as those worn in the evening, and those worn in the evening are not the same as those in the morning."

Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin explains that although our prayers may share the same text, no two prayers are the same, because each prayer offered at a different time has a different spiritual impact. Each moment functions uniquely in the upper worlds, activating different spiritual forces.

This is why the Sages said that the verse “That which is crooked cannot be made straight” refers to one who missed the recitation of Shema or prayer. Even if he recites it tomorrow, it cannot make up for what was lost today, because tomorrow is a different time with a distinct spiritual role.

The same is true for Torah study- each moment has a purpose of its own. What was missed in one moment cannot be replaced in the next, because the next moment has its own purpose and spiritual opportunity. Every unit of time is a vessel waiting to be filled with spiritual content, and once lost, that moment cannot be retrieved.

The writings of the Arizal further explain that no day or hour has ever repeated itself since the creation of the world and each moment is uniquely charged with divine energy. One who succeeds in filling all his moments with Torah and mitzvot will arrive in the World to Come with a life full of merit. He has fulfilled the purpose of creation and will merit to the ultimate pleasure “to delight in G-d and bask in the radiance of His presence”, as Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto writes at the beginning of Mesillat Yesharim.

The Chafetz Chaim, who famously calculated how many mitzvot could be fulfilled in every minute of Torah study, would regularly review how he used his time. It is told that one of his students once stood behind the door of his study on Yom Kippur Eve and was shocked to hear the Chafetz Chaim weeping bitterly, demanding of himself an accounting for his time. The student later discovered that the great sage was anguished over approximately ten minutes from the past year that he could not recall how he used. This became a lifelong moral lesson for the student.

It is no surprise, then, that the Chafetz Chaim would even choose to buy shoes without laces, so as not to waste the extra seconds tying them every day. Those seconds, over time, could amount to hours.

It is also told of Rabbi Eliezer Menachem Shach that in 1948, when the authorities in Jerusalem ordered a blackout at night due to fears of aerial bombardment, he was seen pacing in distress with a volume of Talmud in his hand. Unable to study due to the lack of light, he searched feverishly for a solution until his face lit up with an idea. He took a small candle, climbed into the attic storage space, lay down beneath the low ceiling, and there, in the dim light, studied Torah with joy and intensity.

In the Talmud, it is stated that after one passes from this world, the first questions he is asked include: “Did you conduct your business with honesty? Did you set fixed times for Torah study? Did you engage in procreation? Did you await the redemption? Did you delve into wisdom? Did you understand one matter from another?”

How fortunate is the person who can proudly answer: “Yes, I did set fixed times for Torah!”

At first glance, the first question- “Did you conduct your business with honesty?”- seems to refer to monetary integrity. Some explain however that the two questions are intertwined. When a person tries to justify why he didn’t set aside time for Torah- claiming he was too busy with work- the follow-up question is “Did you conduct your business with emunah (faith)?” Did you truly believe that your livelihood is determined on Rosh Hashanah, and that extra toil cannot add to what was already decreed?

In truth, the fixed time one sets for Torah study is the defining question of a Jew’s life. The preceding question about faith in one’s business dealings merely serves to reveal the flaws in the excuses that follow. Fortunate is the one who can answer every question affirmatively.

The merit of each word of Torah study is not reserved only for the World to Come. Even in this world, a single word of Torah has the power to sustain entire universes and draw down abundant spiritual and material blessing for the individual who stands at the pinnacle of human potential: the one who learns Torah.

Purple redemption of the elegant village: Save baby life with the AMA Department of the Discuss Organization

Call now: 073-222-1212

תגיות:mitzvotspiritualityTorahtime

Articles you might missed

Shopped Revival

מסע אל האמת - הרב זמיר כהן

60לרכישה

מוצרים נוספים

מגילת רות אופקי אבות - הרב זמיר כהן

המלך דוד - הרב אליהו עמר

סטרוס נירוסטה זכוכית

מעמד לבקבוק יין

אלי לומד על החגים - שבועות

ספר תורה אשכנזי לילדים

To all products

*In accurate expression search should be used in quotas. For example: "Family Pure", "Rabbi Zamir Cohen" and so on