27 Sep PARSHAS VZOS HABRACHA: THE TORAH IS NOT YERUSHA – ONLY MORASHA

The Torah reading on
Simchas Torah contains
the well known pasuk
[verse]: “The Torah was
commanded to us by
Moshe, a Morasha
[inheritance] to the
Congregation of Yaakov.” [Devarim 33:4]
There is an interesting teaching in the Talmud
Yerushalmi: Everywhere we find the word
morasha, it connotes a weakening of the idea
of inheritance (lashon deeha) [Bava Basra
8:2].
Morasha is a peculiar word. It is not easy to
translate. It is significantly different than the
word yerusha [inheritance]. The connotation
is that one has less ownership in an object
that has come to him as a “morasha” than he
does in an item that comes to him as a
“yerusha.”
The Jerusalem Talmud is not referring to the
source in our pasuk in Zos HaBracha but
rather to a pasuk in Parshas VaEra: “And I
will give it (referring to the Land of Israel) to
you as a morasha.” [Shemos 6:8] The
Yerushalmi points out that the people who
were given this promise never made it to the
Land of Israel. Virtually the entire generation
who left Egypt died out in the Wilderness.

How then can the Torah make the statement
that it will be given to them as a morasha?
The Yerushalmi thus cites this as proof for
the difference in nuance between yerusha and
morasha.
Had the Torah promised Eretz Yisrael to
those who left Egypt as a yerusha, it would
have belonged to them with no ifs, ands, or
buts. However, the Torah used the weaker
form — morasha, meaning that it will not
necessarily be yours. In truth, it never became
theirs.
It only became theirs to the extent that they
gave it to their children. This in fact is the
major connotation of the word morasha. The
word implies “it is yours – sometimes
literally and sometimes only to the extent that
you pass it on to your children without ever
having taken possession.”
The Yerushalmi then questions this
explanation by citing our pasuk regarding the
Torah being a “morasha for the Congregation
of Yaakov.” The Yerushalmi answers that in
fact this translation of ‘morasha’ applies to
Torah as well!
Torah is NOT a yerusha. Just because my
father had the Torah does not mean that I will
have the Torah. Sometimes a person only has
the Torah as a ‘morasha’. This means that if a

person sweats over Torah and makes the
effort to understand Torah and puts in the
hours required to master Torah, then Torah
actually becomes his. But there is no
guarantee. Torah is not a no-strings-attached
inheritance (yerusha). Without the sweat and
the hours, Torah will only be something that
the person can potentially pass on to the next
generation (morasha).
Chazal teach a tradition based on the pasuk,
“This Torah will not depart from your mouth
or the mouths of you children or the mouths
of your grandchildren forever” [Yehoshua
1:8]: If three generations are committed to
learning Torah, then the Torah will never
leave that person’s family. The Talmud [Bava
Metzia 85a] summarizes this idea with the
expression “The Torah returns to its host”
(Torah chozeres al achsania shelah).
Someone once asked the Chofetz Chaim the
very obvious and pointed question that we
know people who descend from many
generations of Torah scholars who are
themselves ignorant of Torah. Unfortunately,
we see millions of Jews that fit into this
category. There are families that bear the
name of prestigious Gedolim [Torah greats],
who today may not even know what an Aleph
looks like. What then does it mean “Torah

chozeres al achsania shelah”?
The Chofetz Chaim explained that the
Gemara’s analogy is very precise. The Torah
is like a guest seeking its host’s home.
Sometimes a guest knocks on one’s door. If
no one answers the door, the guest will not
come in.
“Torah chozeres al achsania shelah” means
that if Torah has been in a family for three
generations, the Torah will come “knocking
on that family’s door” in future generations.
But still, the younger generation must open
the door for the guest. The guest must still be
invited in by each new generation.
Unfortunately, this does occur. There is
knocking. There are opportunities. But the
door does not get opened. Torah is not a
yerusha. It is only a morasha. The difference
is that the former is automatic, while the
latter requires effort. If a person does not
make the effort, his relationship to Torah
might only be to the extent that he will pass it
on to subsequent generations.