Kivros HaTaavah, “the graves of craving,” alludes to a place where many Jews died as a result of their craving for meat. Horav Tzvi Pesach Frank,zl, suggests that this pasuk relates more than Klal Yisrael’s geographical journey. The pasuk implies that one who distances himself from Torah will ultimately end up in the clutches of taavah, lust. The only safeguard to keep an individual from being swallowed up by his physical desires is his immersion in the sea of Torah. Without Torah, one is subject to the whims and fancies of his yetzer hora.
Horav Frank bases his thesis upon the Talmud in Bava Metzia 85b where Chazal question, “Why was the land destroyed?” This is a reference to the destruction of the first Bais Hamikdash and Klal Yisrael’s ensuing exile. The response comes from Hashem, Who replies, “Because they abandoned My Torah.” Why does the Talmud seek a reason for the churban? Do not Chazal in the Talmud Yoma clearly state that it was the three sins of robbery, murder and adultery that catalyzed the destruction of the Bais Hamikdash? Why seek additional reasons? This question leads us to believe that Chazal mean something else when they ask this question. They wonder what it was that caused Klal Yisrael to fall to such a nadir of sin. What instigated their moral and spiritual breakdown to the point that they resorted to robbery, murder, and adultery? The answer, says Hashem, is their abandonment of the Torah. This is the primary source of sin. Once the protective shield of Torah is removed, one is exposed to the harsh elements. Torah is much more than a source of knowledge; it is our lifeblood through which lives are sustained.
