14 Oct VZOS HABRACHA: THE TORAH IS NOT YERUSHA – ONLY MORASHA

The Torah reading on
Simchas Torah

contains the well-
known pasuk: “The

Torah was
commanded to us by
Moshe, a Morasha
[inheritance] to the
Congregation of
Yaakov.” [Devorim 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 Talmud Yerushalmi 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, 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.