Ever-renewing thirst for Torah

הלימוד בליל שבועות להראות חביבות התורה כי כל חמדת עוה"ז בא מתוך הרעבון.

The learning on the night of Shavuos is to show the preciousness of the Torah, for all the desire for this world comes out of hunger.

The custom to stay up learning on Shavuos night expresses how beloved the Torah is to us. The Sefas Emes opens by noting that physical cravings only arise out of an empty stomach — appetite is born of lack.

ולפי רוב הרגילות מתמעט האהבה והמרעיב עצמו אוכל לתיאבון.

And the more one becomes accustomed to something, the more the love for it diminishes; whereas one who keeps himself hungry eats with appetite.

With ordinary things, familiarity dulls the desire — the more available something is, the less we yearn for it. Only one who holds back from eating retains a keen appetite.

והתורה כל מה שעוסקים בה ביותר מתרבה אהבה וחמדת התורה וע"י עסק התורה בליל שבועות נתרבה הצמאון אל התורה.

But with the Torah, the more one is engaged in it, the more the love and yearning for the Torah increases; and through learning Torah on the night of Shavuos the thirst for the Torah is increased.

Torah works by an opposite rule. Unlike physical desire, immersion in Torah does not dull the craving but intensifies it. Learning on Shavuos night actually deepens our thirst for more.

וכ' כל צמא לכו למים.

And it is written: "Everyone who is thirsty, go to the water" (Yeshayahu 55:1).

The pasuk, which Chazal apply to Torah ("water"), invites specifically the thirsty — the more one thirsts, the more one is drawn to drink.

כמ"ש במד' שנמשלו לדגי הים שגדלים במים ופותחים פיהם לכל טיפה של מים כאלו לא טעמו טעם מים.

As the Midrash says, that they are compared to the fish of the sea, who grow up in the water yet open their mouths for every drop of water as though they had never tasted the taste of water.

Fish live their whole lives surrounded by water, yet they eagerly gulp at every fresh drop as if encountering water for the first time. Their constant immersion never breeds indifference.

כן בנ"י העוסקים תמיד בתורה חביב עליהם כל אות מהתורה כאלו לא טעמו דברי תורה מעולם:

So too Bnei Yisrael, who are constantly engaged in the Torah — every letter of the Torah is precious to them as though they had never tasted words of Torah at all.

Just like the fish, Bnei Yisrael are steeped in Torah their entire lives, yet each letter remains as fresh and beloved as if they were tasting it for the very first time. Torah is the one "water" that never grows stale.

Summary: Physical desire is born of lack and fades with familiarity, but the Torah is the opposite — the more one immerses in it, the more one thirsts for it. Like fish who treasure every drop of the water they live in, Bnei Yisrael cherish every letter of Torah as fresh and new, and the learning of Shavuos night renews and deepens that thirst.