26 Jun Is Torah a Business
In Mishlei, Perek bais, posuk daled it says that if you will search for Torah like silver and jewelry you will find it; then you will understand fear of Hashem and obtain knowledge of Hashem.
There is a story told in Tana D’bei Eliyahu Zuta Perek yud daled about a trapper who claimed that he did not merit receiving an understanding of Torah from heaven. Eliyahu Hanavi asked him, “Who taught you how to take flax and create netting in order to catch fish from the sea?” The trapper responded, “This is the knowledge I got from heaven.”Eliyahu responded, “If you got enough knowledge for trapping, then for sure you got enough brains for Torah as the Torah says that the Torah is very close to you.”
We can explain the above story by saying that Hashem may not give everyone the full brain power to understand Kol HaTorah kula, but Hashem gives us a lesson that whatever kochos one has, whether it is in business or in a craft, can be used as a model to learn and understand Torah.
We need to learn from our business model in gashmiyus and use it for ruchniyus too. In business, we set a goal and we constantly check to see if we are hitting our goal. In addition, the Gemara Avoda Zora daf yud tes tells us that a person who wants hatzlacha in learning should choose the topics that appeal to him. Sometimes we find ourselves in a place where we are unable to learn what we like; nevertheless, Shlomo Hamelech compares such a scenario to finding money. It is comparable to a person walking in the street where he finds a $100 bill. Despite the fact that this $100 will not be enough to pay his mortgage, the person will nevertheless bend down and pick up the money however little it is, because every little bit counts. The same concept applies when it comes to learning. Every little bit counts and helps toward the goal of understanding Torah. We have to make learning Torahlike earning money for business and constantly look for ways to earn more Torah.
May we be zocheh to become a millionaire in our Torah business.