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Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz: “What does it mean to abandon Torah?”

There are a number of books being published with a certain prayer to be recited before study, in order to emphasize the holiness of the Torah.

The great Sage the Maharal once asked:

Why is the earth getting lost?

Because the Torah was abandoned.

What does it mean to abandon Torah?

The answer is that the Torah is abandoned if one does not bless it before coming to it.

God seems to overlook many sins and trespasses and even crimes, but He cannot forgive the failure to bless the Torah.

This blessing takes the Torah out of the category of just learning.

–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz