Bodies, Substances, Ball-Playing, and A Few Other Metaphors for Torah

(22) Ben Bag Bag says: Search in it and search in it, since everything is in it. And in it should you look, and grow old and be worn in it; and from it do not move, since there is no characteristic greater than it.

Rava said to him: If a person makes themselves humble like this wilderness, which is open to all and upon which everyone treads, the Torah will be given to them as a gift [mattana]. And once it is given to them as a gift, they inherit it [neḥalo] and God [El] makes it God's inheritance, as it is stated: “And from Mattanah to Nahaliel.” And once God has made it God's inheritance, God rises to greatness, as it is stated: “And from Nahaliel to Bamoth,” which means heights.

Therefore, write down this poem/song and teach it to the people of Israel; put it in their mouths, in order that this poem may be My witness against the people of Israel.

Were not Your teaching my plaything, I would have perished in my affliction.

Another interpretation of "These and those are the words of the Living God": The Oral Torah is like a bride's adornments/jewelry. This one says, "this needs to be the adornment," and this one says, "that's not pretty! This one is prettier!" And this gives the king pleasure, for they are debating about the adornments

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “And this is the Torah which Moses put [sam] before the children of Israel” (Deuteronomy 4:44)? The word sam is written with the letter sin and means put; it is phonetically similar to the word sam written with the letter samekh, meaning a drug. This use of this word therefore alludes to the following: If one is deserving, the Torah becomes a potion [sam] of life for him. If one is not deserving, the Torah becomes a potion of death for him. And this idea is what Rava said: For one who is skillful in his study of Torah and immerses himself in it with love, it is a potion of life; but for one who is not skillful in his studies, it is a potion of death.

Resh Lakish said, "At the time he wrote the Torah, Moshe acquired the splendor of his face." How? Resh Lakish said,"The Torah was given to Moshe, its skin of white fire and written with black fire, and sealed in fire, and wrapped with fire [other versions: and given in fire]. And while he was writing, he wiped his pen-reed on his hair, and from there he acquired the splendor of his face."

The sayings of the wise are like goads (ke-darbanot): like a girl's ball. (k'kadur shel banot)! As a ball is flung from hand to hand never falling to the ground, so Moses received the Torah at Sinai and delivered it to Joshua, Joshua to the elders, the elders to the prophets and the prophets delivered it to the members of the great assembly.

As goads/cattle prods: As the goad directs the calf so that it plows and so that it provides livelihood to its owner, so words of Torah direct the heart of those who study them from the ways of death to the ways of life.

"And God spoke to Moses in the Sinai Wilderness" (Numbers 1:1). Why the Sinai Wilderness? From here the sages taught that the Torah was given through three things: fire, water, and wilderness. How do we know it was given through fire? From Exodus 19:18: "And Mount Sinai was all in smoke as God had come down upon it in fire." How do we know it was given through water? As it says in Judges 5:4, "The heavens dripped and the clouds dripped water [at Sinai]." How do we know it was given through wilderness? [As it says above,] "And God spoke to Moses in the Sinai Wilderness." And why was the Torah given through these three things? Just as [fire, water, and wilderness] are free to all the inhabitants of the world, so too are the words of Torah free to them, as it says in Isaiah 55:1, "Oh, all who are thirsty, come for water... even if you have no money." Another explanation: "And God spoke to Moses in the Sinai Wilderness" — Anyone who does not make themselves ownerless like the wilderness cannot acquire the wisdom and the Torah. Therefore it says, "the Sinai Wilderness."

Rabbi Hiyya said that Rabbi Yochenan said: What [is the meaning of the verse where it] is written: “He who guards the fig will eat of its fruit” (Proverbs 27:18)? Why are the words of Torah compared to a fig tree? Just as with a fig three the whole time a person tends to it it bears fruit, the whole time a person studies the words of Torah the more pleasure he brings out from them.