Torah as acquiring Hashem Himself

במדרש כי לקח טוב נתתי כו'. אל תעזובו את המקח כו' יש לך מקח שא"י מה לקח כו' מוכר נמכר עמו כו'.

In the Midrash on "For I have given you a good acquisition (lekach tov)…" (Mishlei 4:2): "Do not forsake the merchandise (mekach)…"; "You have a kind of purchase in which one does not know what he has acquired…"; "the seller is sold along with it…"

The Midrash plays on the word lekach ("teaching" / "acquisition"), comparing the Torah to a wondrous purchase. Unlike any ordinary transaction, when you "acquire" Torah you also acquire something beyond reckoning, and remarkably the "Seller" — Hashem Himself — comes along with the sale.

הענין הוא כי התורה יש בה כמה מדרגות עד כי נעלמה מעיני כל חי.

The matter is that the Torah contains many levels, to the point that it is hidden from the eyes of all living, as it is written, "it is concealed from the eyes of all living" (Iyov 28:21).

The Torah has endless depths, ascending to heights so lofty that its true essence is hidden from every creature — no living being can perceive its full reality.

אכן התגלות אור התורה הוא כפי המקבלים.

However, the revelation of the light of the Torah is according to the receivers.

Though the Torah is infinite and hidden, how much of its light a person actually perceives depends on the receiver — on how prepared and receptive he makes himself.

ונק' לקח טוב שע"י התורה יכולין למצוא אור הגנוז.

And it is called "lekach tov" (a good acquisition), for through the Torah one can find the hidden light (ohr ha-ganuz).

Torah is a "good acquisition" because it gives access to the ohr ha-ganuz — the primordial hidden light that Hashem stored away for the righteous, otherwise inaccessible in this world.

וע"ז נא' מה רב טובך אשר צפנת.

And concerning this it is said, "How abundant is Your goodness, which You have hidden away [for those who fear You]" (Tehillim 31:20).

The verse speaks of a vast divine "goodness" that Hashem has concealed and reserved — corresponding to the hidden light that the Torah unlocks.

כמ"ש יצפון לישרים תושי'.

As it is written, "He stores up wisdom (tushiyah) for the upright" (Mishlei 2:7).

This treasured wisdom is "stored up" specifically for the upright — those who, through their sincerity and avodah, become fit to receive it.

והוא הארות נעלמים שא"י להתגלות בזה העולם רק ע"י התורה.

And these are hidden illuminations that cannot be revealed in this world except through the Torah.

These concealed lights have no other doorway into our physical world; Torah alone is the channel through which they can shine here.

לכן נק' לקח טוב.

Therefore it is called "lekach tov."

Because Torah is the sole key to these hidden lights, it earns the title "a good acquisition" — the best of all possible purchases.

וכפי המד' אין טוב אלא הקב"ה דכ' טוב ה' לכל.

And according to the Midrash, "there is no 'good' except HaKadosh Baruch Hu," as it is written, "Hashem is good to all" (Tehillim 145:9).

The Midrash teaches that the word "good" in its truest sense refers to Hashem alone. So when Torah is called a "good acquisition," the "good" being acquired is ultimately Hashem Himself.

וע"י התורה כביכול לוקחין אותו ית' כמ"ש ויקחו לי כו'.

And through the Torah, as it were, one "acquires" Him, blessed be He, as it is written, "and they shall take for Me [a terumah]" (Shemos 25:2).

This is the astonishing meaning of the Midrash's "the Seller is sold with it": through Torah, a person "takes" Hashem Himself. The Sefas Emes links this to "ve-yikchu Li" — "take for Me" — read as taking Me, taking Hashem, through the offering and through Torah.

ואיתא בשם הרב הקדוש ר' בער ז"ל פי' הפסוק אשרי אדם עוז לו בך פי' שהתורה שעוסק הוא בדביקות בו ית' כו'.

And it is brought in the name of the holy Rav, Reb Ber of blessed memory [the Maggid of Mezritch], the explanation of the verse "Praiseworthy is the person whose strength is in You" (Tehillim 84:6) — meaning that the Torah one studies should be in deveikus (cleaving) to Him.

The Maggid of Mezritch reads "whose strength is in You" as a directive for Torah study: one should learn Torah not as detached information, but while clinging to Hashem, so that the learning itself is an act of attachment to the Giver.

וע"ז דרשו אל תעזובו את המקח כו' כענין שכ' בזוה"ק פרשה זו על הפסוק ואתה ה' אל תרחק כי צריכין בנ"י להתדבק בו ית' ע"י עסק התורה ותפלה ודו"ק:

And concerning this they expounded, "Do not forsake the merchandise…," in the manner of what the Zohar HaKadosh writes on this parshah regarding the verse, "But You, Hashem, do not be distant" (Tehillim 22:20) — that Bnei Yisrael must cleave to Him, blessed be He, through engagement in Torah and tefillah; and understand this well.

The Midrash's warning "do not forsake the merchandise" is really a warning never to let go of Hashem, the "Seller" who comes with the Torah. The Zohar on Terumah, on "do not be distant," makes the same point: the purpose of learning Torah and davening is deveikus — staying continually attached to Hashem and never allowing Him to become "distant."

Summary: The Torah is called "lekach tov," a good acquisition, because it has infinite hidden levels and is the only channel through which the ohr ha-ganuz — the concealed divine light reserved for the upright — can be revealed in this world. Since "good" in its truest sense means Hashem alone, the deepest meaning of the Midrash's "the Seller is sold along with it" is that through Torah one "acquires" Hashem Himself. Therefore, as the Maggid of Mezritch and the Zohar teach, Torah and tefillah must be done in deveikus — so that we "never forsake the merchandise," never letting go of our cleaving to Hashem.