Torah as Moshe's inherited gift

במדרש לקח טוב נתתי כו' מקח שא"י מה לקח משכר הסרסור נתוודע כו'.

In the Midrash on "A good acquisition (lekach tov) I have given you" — a purchase whose worth you cannot know; from the broker's wages you can become aware of what was acquired.

The Midrash teaches that the Torah is so precious its value cannot be appraised directly. Just as one gauges the worth of a sale from the commission paid to the middleman (the sarsur), so the immense value of the Torah can be sensed indirectly.

מרע"ה הוא הדעת של בנ"י והוא נותן דעת לכל ישראל ומשה רבינו עצמו נק' לקח טוב.

Moshe Rabbeinu is the da'as (knowing intellect) of Bnei Yisrael, and he imparts da'as to all of Yisrael, and Moshe Rabbeinu himself is called "a good acquisition."

Moshe is the channel of higher knowledge for the whole nation. He is the "broker" whose own greatness reveals the Torah's worth, and so he himself is identified with the "good acquisition" given to Yisrael.

שהוא הי' כלי לקבל את התורה מסיני וכמ"ש במ"א תורה צוה כו' משה מורשה.

For he was the vessel to receive the Torah from Sinai, as it says elsewhere: "The Torah that Moshe commanded us is the heritage (morashah) [of the congregation of Yaakov]" (Devarim 33:4).

Moshe was the perfect receptacle to absorb the Torah at Har Sinai. Through him the Torah became an inheritance passed down to all Yisrael.

שהתורה ירושה.

For the Torah is an inheritance.

The Torah is not earned from scratch by each generation; it is a yerushah (inheritance) handed down to every Jew.

ומשה רבינו ירושה.

And Moshe Rabbeinu is an inheritance.

The very da'as of Moshe — his soul-power of higher knowing — is itself bequeathed to Bnei Yisrael as part of that inheritance.

לישראל.

To Yisrael.

This inheritance belongs to the entire people of Yisrael.

לכן כ' בי' כי טוב הוא אין טוב אלא תורה.

Therefore it is written of him [Moshe], "that he was good" — and "good" refers to nothing other than Torah.

Scripture says of the infant Moshe "ki tov hu" (that he was good). Chazal teach that true "good" means Torah, so this hints that Moshe was the embodiment of Torah itself.

ובמשנה חיבה יתירה נודעת להם שניתן להם כלי חמדה.

And in the Mishnah: "An extra love was made known to them, that the precious vessel (kli chemdah) was given to them."

Chazal (Avos 3:14) say Hashem showed Yisrael special affection by informing them that He gave them the Torah, the "precious instrument" with which the world was created.

ולזה הדעת זכה מרע"ה שהי' מ' יום ומ' לילה בהר.

And to this da'as Moshe Rabbeinu merited, for he was forty days and forty nights on the mountain.

Moshe attained this elevated knowing through his forty days and nights on Har Sinai, a complete severance from physicality that fitted him to receive the Torah.

ואיתא מש"ה רבינ"ו גי' תרי"ג.

And it is brought down that "Moshe Rabbeinu" has the gematria of 613.

The numerical value of the letters of "Moshe Rabbeinu" equals 613 (taryag) — the number of mitzvos — showing that the entire Torah is bound up in Moshe himself.

פי' על ידי שניתן התורה באמצעיות הסרסור.

The meaning is: through the Torah being given by means of the broker [Moshe],

Because the Torah passed through Moshe as the intermediary,

נתפשטה התורה ברמ"ח ושס"ה בציור אדם.

the Torah spread out into the 248 [limbs] and 365 [sinews] in the form of a man.

The 248 positive mitzvos correspond to the 248 limbs and the 365 prohibitions to the 365 sinews, so the Torah became "clothed" in the very structure of the human body.

עי"ז היא מורשה לעולם לישראל.

Through this it is an eternal inheritance for Yisrael.

Because the Torah is embedded in the makeup of every Jew, it remains a permanent inheritance for all generations.

ובמד' לקחת מתנות שניתנה בלקיחה ומתנה ונק' שבי.

And in the Midrash on "You took gifts" — that it [the Torah] was given through both taking and giving as a gift, and it is called "captives" (shevi).

On "lakachta matanos ba'adam" (Tehillim 68:19), the Midrash notes the Torah was both seized ("taken") and bestowed as a "gift," and is even called "captive" — pointing to two different ways the Torah is acquired.

והענין כי מרע"ה קיבלה בלקיחה.

And the idea is that Moshe Rabbeinu received it by taking.

Moshe acquired the Torah by his own effort — he actively "took" it through his toil.

לקח טוב.

A good acquisition.

This is the "lekach tov," the good acquisition that Moshe earned through his own avodah.

שהרי נתענה מ' יום ומ' לילה ואח"כ ניתנה לו במתנה לזכות גם בנ"י שאין זוכין ע"י מעשיהם רק במתנה כמ"ש במ"א.

For he afflicted himself forty days and forty nights, and afterward it was given to him as a gift — in order to grant merit also to Bnei Yisrael, who do not merit it through their own deeds but only as a gift, as is explained elsewhere.

Moshe earned the Torah by his self-affliction, yet it was then re-given to him as a matanah (free gift) so that ordinary Jews — who cannot earn it solely by their actions — could still receive it gratuitously.

אך לאנשים חטאים הגם דאיתא אין עבירה מכבה תורה.

However, regarding sinful people — although it is brought down that "a sin does not extinguish Torah,"

Even one who has sinned does not lose the Torah he learned, for an aveirah cannot wipe out the light of Torah within a person.

אבל התורה שבו.

nevertheless the Torah within him —

The Torah that resides inside such a person —

בוודאי היא בשביה.

is certainly in captivity.

Through his sins, the inner Torah-light is taken captive and held in concealment, unable to shine freely.

עד שמתקן מעשיו בתשובה ע"י אור תורה שבו כמ"ש משיבת נפש:

until he repairs his deeds through teshuvah, by means of the light of Torah within him, as it says, "[the Torah of Hashem is perfect,] restoring the soul" (Tehillim 19:8).

When he does teshuvah, the very Torah-light held captive within him is what rouses and restores his soul, freeing that light once more. This is "meshivas nafesh" — the Torah that revives the soul.

Summary: The Torah is a priceless "good acquisition," embodied in Moshe Rabbeinu, who is the da'as of Bnei Yisrael and whose name equals 613. Moshe earned the Torah through effort, yet it was re-given as a free gift so all Yisrael could inherit it, clothed in the 248 limbs and 365 sinews of every Jew. Even a sinner never loses his Torah — though it lies captive within him until, through teshuvah, that same inner light restores his soul.