The Midrash, cited by the Daas Zekeinim, comments that when Bnei Yisrael approached the Red Sea, menacing waters confronted them. There seemed to be no hope. The Angel Gavriel came forth and declared, “Let the waters in front of Bnei Yisrael move aside in deference to the nation who perform the Bris Milah. The waters which are to the right of Bnei Yisrael should likewise defer to the nation that accepted the Torah from Hashem’s ‘right Hand.’ The waters to the left should submit to the nation that puts tefillin on the left arm, and the waters behind them should move away before those who don the tallis and cast the tzitzis over their shoulders.”
The zchus, merit, of these mitzvos rendered Bnei Yisrael worthy of Krias Yam Suf, the splitting of the Red Sea. These mitzvos, however, seem to have little in common with one another. Although tefillin, bris milah and tzitzis/tallis are all related to the body, Kabbolas Ha’Torah from Hashem’s right Hand is not something which we do with our body. Our right hand did not receive the Torah; rather, it was Hashem’s right Hand that gave it to us! What, then, is the parallel between Torah study and the other three mitzvos?
We suggest that a profound lesson can be inferred from here. The three mitzvos mentioned here, and, in fact, all mitzvos, are primarily active in nature. This means that one performs them on his own; the element of instruction is not an integral component in the framework of the mitzvah. Torah study, on the other hand, is unique in that it must be studied from a rebbe, Torah teacher.
Torah is transmitted from teacher to student in a chain of transmission from Har Sinai until this very day. Moshe received the Torah from Hashem Yisborach and “handed it over” to Yehoshua, who, in turn, handed it over to the next generation. Similarly, every Torah teacher transmits the Torah to his student. This method of Torah study is an integral part of the mitzvah of limud Ha’Torah. One does not study on his own; he receives it from his rebbe and reviews it until it becomes part of his consciousness. Only then is he able to transmit to others that which he has absorbed within himself. One cannot transmit something he has not absorbed. Moshe received the Torah and “handed it” over to Yehoshua. He did not “give it” over. To give something over implies a transfer of ownership. One gives over what one possesses. To hand or turn over means to transfer the message as is — preserved in its entirety. This is the trust of every rebbe in Klal Yisrael from the time of Moshe Rabbeinu –– to see to it that the Torah in its immutable form is transmitted through the generations, as pristine as we received it at Sinai.
Consequently, it is the receiving of the Torah from Hashem’s right Hand that characterizes the significance of the mitzvah. Limud Ha’Torah is an active mitzvah which is fulfilled through the submissive reception of a talmid from his rebbe.
