| The Talmud states: “Even if a person learned only one chapter [of a Torah subject] in the morning and one chapter in the evening, he has thereby fulfilled the commandment ‘This book of the Torah shall not depart from your mouth, and you shall ponder it day and night’” (Menahot 99b). We often find ourselves exceptionally busy, preoccupied with countless obligations, leaving no time for much else, let alone Torah study. This talmudic passage teaches that even if we can manage but a few meager moments to devote to Torah study, any accomplishment in this regard fulfills our obligation. Moreover, one is viewed as though he has engaged in Torah study the entire day and night. That is because he decides to dedicate his meaningful time, the moments he truly has for himself, solely to God by studying His Torah. These daily and nightly dedications connect his entire life, both his material and spiritual pursuits, to the divine unity, to the four cubits of halakha. Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz |