Daily Chidush: How much Torah do we have in this world vs. Olam HaBa?

0:00Hope you had a wonderful Shabbat, an amazing time to relax with the family, learn some Torah, eat, drink, and rest. But now we're in a new week and we have to start off the week with a stimulating chiddush that will give us strength for another week. Sticking to myself, we're getting closer and closer to the extraordinary day of Shavuot. And it's a biblical mitzvah to count the Omer. Hashem told us in the Torah that after the second day of Pesach, we have to count 49 days, and the 50th day is Shavuot. So we go from celebration to celebration. From the celebration in memory of the Exodus, leaving Mitzrayim, leaving slavery, leaving idol worship. Going all the way to the greatest day in history, which is the day we received the Torah from Hashem—this day gave the world its meaning. Hashem told us to remember and celebrate those days, and even to count the days in between. However, one of the things that most people are remembering during this time is the first 34 days of the Omer.

1:28The first 34 days of the countdown to Shavuot are the days we count the Omer, in memory of the immense loss we suffered with the passing of 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva. Each one of these students was a Tanna, an extraordinary sage, where the least of them had immense Kedushah and Torah in them. Revive the dead and each day we lost about 700 of them. To give you an idea of how much Torah each one of them had, if you combine all of the rabbis in today's world together, it would not be equivalent to just one of them. And we lost 24,000 of them. ...there are only 55 prophets mentioned in the entire Tanakh, 48 male and five females, but the same Gemara says that throughout history we had at least 1.2 million prophets. So the question goes: if 1.2 million prophets...

2:50There are only 55 prophets mentioned in the entire Tanakh, 48 male and five female. However, the same Gemara says that throughout history we had at least 1.2 million prophets. So the question arises: if there were 1.2 million prophets... people that spoke to God in different ways, not like Moshe Rabbeinu, of course, but in different ways, whether through dreams or meditation and so on. But they got the word of God. And we had 1.2 million of them. And our entire Torah is from 55. Why weren't they mentioned? Where is their Torah? And Hashem responds to this question by saying that 1.2 million had prophecy that was relevant to their generation, meaning that the prophecy of the other 55, which includes the entire Tanakh that we have—the Five Books of Moses and 19 other books after it—is relevant for us forever, for eternity. But here we see that this extraordinary Torah is really from 55.

4:15extraordinary people. And those 55 delivered their Torah to 24,000. 24,000 sages that each had the Kedusha to revive the dead. And then again, as a result of the lack of unity, there was a heavenly decree to bring on a plague and kill all 24,000, putting Rabbi Akiva in a situation where he had to start all over again with five students: Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes, Rabbi Yehuda Bar Ilai, Rabbi Yosei, Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, and Rabbi Elazar Ben Shamua. This is in the tractate of Yevamot in the Gemara, page 62b.

5:18says that 12,000 pairs of Rabbi Akiva's students were killed in this plague, and it specifically mentions 12,000 pairs rather than 24,000 students to symbolize the lack of unity. But now we see that again, we went from 55 prophets to five or six. People, extraordinary sages like Rabbi Akiva and his five students, and the Torah of these six people form the foundation of everything we have. If you look at the understanding, explanation, and commentary on their Torah, which encompasses the entire Mishnah, the entire Gemara, and the entire Shulchan Aruch, it is profound.

6:18entire Midrash and tens of tens of thousands of books that are still being written to this day. If you go to HebrewBooks.com you'll see that they have about 75,000 free Jewish books that you can download online, and this is just a small part of the Torah that we have because there are many books that you have to purchase. Nonetheless, tens and tens of thousands of books Torah that we have today is such that if a person could just read a few, it would change their life. And in fact, if a person would just read one, it could easily change their life. But this is only from a few, from a half a dozen. What will we do if, hypothetically, Hashem would skip one of those 34 days, and instead of letting six survive, there would be 706? How much more Torah would we have? What if He would skip two days and we'd have 1,406 sages, and we would have their Torah? So the question that everyone always asks is, what do we do in Olam HaBa?

7:18one of those 34 days, and instead of letting six survive, it would be 706. How much more Torah would we have? What if he would skip two days and we'd have 1,406 sages and we would have their Torah? So the question that everyone always asks is: what do we do in Olam HaBa? What do we do in Gan Eden? And the answer goes, you see, sage after sage after sage after sage learning Torah. And people always ask, myself included in the past, how much Torah can you possibly learn? I mean, okay, so you finished the Gemara, you finished the Shas, it took you, let's say, seven years. If you're a smart, dedicated, and persistent person, you finished the Gemara in seven years. You finished the Chumash, in one year by completing one Parashah per week, and then, let's say, it took you another year to finish the rest of the Tanakh. Then the Shulchan Aruch, another seven years. Then the Mishnah, another seven years. Then the Midrashim, another seven years. The process of learning is infinite, and each cycle brings new insights and depth. In Gan Eden, the learning is endless, an eternal journey of discovering the will and wisdom of Hashem. Okay, so you finished the Gemara, and you completed the entire Shas; let's say it took you seven years. If you're a smart, dedicated, and persistent person, you finished the Gemara in seven years. You finished the Chumash, studying one Parashah per week, and completed it in one year. Let's say it took you another year to finish the rest of the Tanakh. Then you studied the Shulchan Aruch, which took another seven years. You then embarked on learning the Mishnah, which took another seven years. Next, you dedicated yourself to the Midrashim, which took yet another seven years to complete.

8:34Okay, so you spend 30 or 40 years, you finish the Torah, no? That's what I would think. How much, I mean, Olam Haba, Gan Eden, which are two different things, but they're eternal. What do you do with the rest of the time? And if we understand how much Torah there is, we understand that even eternity is not enough. The Gemara says a story about Rabbi Eliezer ben Hurkenos. Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, one of the greatest sages that ever lived, was actually one of the rabbis of Rabbi Akiva. One day, Rabbi Akiva comes to visit Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus after not seeing him for many years. Rabbi Eliezer gets upset with him. He says, Rabbi Akiva, how come you haven't come to visit me? I have so much Torah to teach you. And Rabbi Akiva responds, Kevod HaRav, you know that the situation did not allow me to come visit, and I know you have a lot of Torah. Rabbi Eliezer says, no, you don't know how much Torah I have. Rabbi Akiva asks, how much Torah do you have? Rabbi Eliezer says, if all of the ocean were ink and all of the trees were pens, and all of the land was paper, it would still not be enough to write down the Torah that I know. The situation did not allow me to come visit, and I know you have a lot of Torah. He says, "No, you don't know how much Torah I have." He says, "How much Torah do you have, how much Torah do you have?" He says, "If all of the ocean was ink, and all of the trees were pens, and all of the land was paper, it would still not be enough to write down the Torah that I know."

10:01The Torah that I know is not even a percentage of the Torah that's available. So, you see, my friends, the Torah is endless. Nine hundred and seventy-four generations before Hashem created this world, He wrote the Torah—white fire on black fire. And that Torah is part of Him and is eternal. And there's no end to it. So when you ask yourself, what are you going to do in Olam Haba b'ezrat Hashem? Don't worry. You'll be very, very busy consuming more and more Torah you've yearned for your whole life. But how does this connect us today? How does this connect the story of going from the happiness of the Exodus to the happiness of Matan Torah, of receiving the Torah, and in the middle of it, Having this huge sorrow that we don't have this Torah, we have tens and tens of thousands of books that we haven't read but want to. Yet, we still mourn for the Torah we don't have, that even if we could, we can't read. This reminds us that the main reason why we don't have that part is unity.

11:22Rabbi Akiva's students did not respect each other on their level. It was not a level of disrespect like people show every day, treating each other like animals, but rather a lack of respect on their own elevated level. If one stated a halacha and an understanding of Torah and was perhaps mistaken by 5%, his partner, his chavruta, would not correct him. On their level, that was considered disrespectful. In our level, it's not only that we have to respect each other, but more importantly, we have to be reminded that if we have unity combined with the Torah, B'ezrat Hashem, we will achieve Olam HaBa and the rest of the Torah we all yearn for. So, how much Torah there is... his partner, his chavruta, would not correct him. And at their level, that was considered disrespectful. At our level, it's not only that we have to respect each other, but more importantly, we have to be reminded that if we have unity combined with the Torah, Be'ezrat Hashem, we will attain Olam Haba and the rest of the Torah we all yearn for. So how much Torah there is, It's endless. How do we get it? We must unite and learn it together. Thank you again for learning with me. And, b'ezrat Hashem, we'll continue to learn throughout the rest of this week. Kol tuv.