Reply To: Short & Sweet

Vzos Habracha: Doing It Yourself

The Sfas Emes has a fascinating explanation on the pasuk of תורה צורה לנו משה מורשה קהלת יעקב.

We know that Klal Yisroel chose to hear the Torah from Moshe, not to hear it directly from Hashem. The Sfas Emes explains that there was a reason for this. They knew that anything that is given to a person miraculously will not last. The only things that stay with us are the things we worked for, the things dedicated our heart and soul towards. Those things become a part of our very essence, and we can never forget them.

Since we chose to hear the Torah from Moshe (תורה צוה לנו משה), we had to work to understand it – it wasn’t miraculously given to us. And since we had to work on it, it became a part of who we are, and we were able to transmit it from one generation to another for the thousands of years since (מורשה קהלת יעקב).

לע״נ דוד חיים בן ישראל דוב הכהן
לע״נ ר׳ חיים דוב בן ר׳ בןציון שלום