Torah learned to be lived draws inner light into deeds

במד' הלומד ע"מ לעשות מעלה עליו הכ' כאילו עשיתם אתם.

In the Midrash: One who learns Torah in order to do (to fulfill it), the verse considers it as though "you made them."

The Sefas Emes opens with Chazal's teaching that learning Torah with the intent to act upon it is so powerful that it is as if the learner himself "made" the Torah.

עצמכם.

"Yourselves."

The Midrash adds that he is considered to have made his very own self — learning Torah in order to fulfill it re-creates the person.

עוד שם זוכה ומקבל רוה"ק כו'.

Further there (in the Midrash): he merits and receives ruach hakodesh (divine inspiration), etc.

Such Torah study draws down a personal measure of ruach hakodesh upon the one who learns.

כי התורה ניתנה לבנ"י להמשיך אור התורה במצות מעשיות.

For the Torah was given to Bnei Yisrael to draw the light of the Torah into practical mitzvos.

The purpose of Torah is not abstract knowledge but to channel its inner light into concrete deeds.

כמו שיש באדם נשמה ונפש וגוף כן בתורה שלפנינו הוא כמו גוף התורה אבל פנימיות התורה גבוה מעל גבוה והלומד ע"מ לעשות פי' להביא הארת התורה בעשי' ונמשך הארה מנשמת התורה אל התורה ערוכה שלפנינו.

Just as a person has a neshamah, a nefesh, and a body, so too the Torah before us is like the "body" of the Torah, while the penimiyus (inner dimension) of the Torah is exalted far above; and one who learns in order to do means to bring the illumination of the Torah into action, and thereby an illumination is drawn from the "soul" of the Torah into the Torah as it is arranged before us.

The Torah has layers paralleling a human being: the revealed text is its "body," while its inner essence soars on high. Learning in order to act links the visible Torah back to its hidden source, drawing the higher light down into the words we hold.

וכמו זה ממש ממשיך הארת הנשמה שבו לגופו כמ"ש בזוה"ק בפסוק ישרצו המים כו' נפש חי'.

And in exactly the same way a person draws the illumination of his own neshamah into his body, as the Zohar says on the verse "let the waters swarm... a living soul."

The same dynamic plays out within man himself: through Torah he draws the light of his soul into his physical body, mirroring the verse the Zohar expounds about a "living soul."

שע"י עסק התורה זוכין להארת הנשמה שהוא מרחפת ע"פ המים זו תורה.

For through engaging in Torah one merits the illumination of the neshamah, which "hovers over the waters" — this refers to the Torah.

Toiling in Torah awakens the radiance of the soul, alluded to in the spirit that "hovers over the waters," which Chazal identify with the Torah.

וכ"כ ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים כו' לנפש חי' לרוח ממללא.

And so too it is written: "and He breathed into his nostrils a soul of life," ... "into a living soul," meaning a speaking spirit.

The breath of life Hashem placed in man — rendered by Onkelos as a "speaking spirit" — is itself the soul-light that Torah brings to expression.

נמצא העוסק בתורה לשמה עושה את התורה ואת עצמו ומקבל רוה"ק המיוחד אליו ולנשמתו.

It emerges that one who engages in Torah lishmah (for its own sake) "makes" the Torah and "makes" himself, and receives the ruach hakodesh that is uniquely suited to him and to his soul.

Learning Torah lishmah completes both the Torah and the self, and earns a portion of divine inspiration tailored to that particular neshamah.

ולכן שכר עמל בתורה ונתתי גשמיכם בעתם.

Therefore the reward for toiling in Torah is "and I will give your rains in their season."

The parsha's blessing of timely rains is the natural fruit of laboring in Torah, which draws Hashem's flow into the world.

הגם כי שכר מצוה בהאי עלמא ליכא רק גדולה תורה שנותנת חיים לעושי' בעוה"ז ובעוה"ב.

Even though "there is no reward for a mitzvah in this world," nevertheless great is Torah, for it gives life to those who fulfill it both in this world and in the World to Come.

Mitzvos generally have no this-worldly payment, yet Torah is greater: it bestows life in both worlds because it is itself the source of vitality.

ופי' לעושי' כנ"ל שמביא הארת התורה בעשי':

And the meaning of "to those who fulfill it" is as above — that one brings the illumination of the Torah into action.

"Those who fulfill it" precisely means those who translate the Torah's light into deeds, which is why it grants them life in both worlds.

Summary: Torah learned in order to be lived draws the inner light of the Torah down into mitzvos and into the very body of the learner, just as the neshamah illuminates the body; such study lishmah re-creates both Torah and self, draws a personal ruach hakodesh, and gives life in this world and the next.