Torah's purpose is refined deeds

בנוסח הבקשה יפתח לבנו בתורתו וישם בלבנו אהבתו ויראתו מפורש בעליל מאמר רבותינו ז"ל חבל למאן דלית לי' דרתא ותרעא לדרתא עביד.

In the text of the request, "May He open our hearts through His Torah, and place in our hearts His love and His fear," there is clearly expressed the saying of our Rabbis: "Woe to one who has no courtyard yet makes a gateway for the courtyard." (cf. Shabbos 31b)

The liturgical request shows the proper order: the Torah is meant to "open the heart" so that love and fear of Hashem can enter. Chazal's image of the gateway and courtyard warns against making the means an end — a gateway is worthless without a courtyard to enter.

כי כל התורה רק הכנה לפתוח הלב לקבל אהבה ויראה.

For all of Torah is only a preparation to open the heart, to receive love and fear.

Torah study is the gateway; its purpose is to open the heart so that ahavah and yiras Shomayim can take root within.

כי תכלית התורה תקון הנפש הבא בכח התורה.

For the goal of the Torah is the refinement of the soul, which comes through the power of the Torah.

The ultimate aim is the tikkun (rectification) of one's nefesh — and Torah is the force that brings it about.

ולכן קבעו מגילת רות בשבועות להודיע כי לא המדרש עיקר רק המעשה וע"י עסק התורה נתקן נפש האדם ויכול לתקן אח"כ כל מעשיו לטוב ודברי תורה הם אור זרוע לצדיק וצריך האדם לעבוד בזה האור עד שיוציא מכח אל הפועל תיקון מעשיו לטוב והוא התולדה והפרי.

And therefore they established Megillas Rus on Shavuos, to make known that it is not study that is primary but the deed; and that through engagement in Torah a person's soul is refined, so that he can afterward set all his deeds right for the good. And the words of Torah are "light sown for the tzaddik" (Tehillim 97:11), and a person must labor with this light until he brings the rectification of his deeds for the good from potential into actuality — and that is the offspring and the fruit.

Megillas Rus, full of acts of chesed, is read on Shavuos to teach that learning is not an end in itself; the deed is primary. Torah is a "sown light" that one must actively cultivate until it bears fruit in refined, good actions — that fruit is the true purpose of the Torah.

וזה הרמז חיים הם למוצאיהם.

And this is the hint in "they are life to those who find them" (Mishlei 4:22) — read as "to those who bring them out."

The Sefas Emes reads "motzei'hem" (those who find them) as "motzi'eihem" — those who bring them out, drawing the words of Torah from potential into deed.

מי שמוציא כח דברי תורה אל הפועל:

One who brings the potential of the words of Torah out into actuality.

True life is granted to the one who actualizes the power of Torah, translating his learning into refined deeds.

Summary: All Torah study is a gateway whose purpose is to open the heart to love and fear of Hashem and to refine the soul. As the gateway is worthless without the courtyard, learning is not an end in itself: the deed is primary. Megillas Rus, read on Shavuos, teaches this, and "they are life to those who bring them out" means that true life belongs to one who actualizes the power of Torah in good deeds — the offspring and fruit of his learning.