“When a person studies Torah, he creates an angel and becomes a creature that has connections with a higher order of existence.
Any attempt to picture this spiritual essence has its limitations.
It is of an experiential order.
That is, it is something that happens.
The physical pronunciation of holy words is a reality that transforms and the sanctified essence thus created is connected to the person who created it.”
–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
From Pebbles of Wisdom from Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz (forthcoming)