Meditating on words of Torah

Psalm One verse two reads, "But his desire is in the Torah of G-d, and in his Torah he meditates day and night."

In the first verse the Psalm praised a person who did not do evil. Some people might say that since they didn't do evil, they have permission to sleep all day.

Looking at the structure of this verse, when he merely desires it, it is called the Torah of G-d. Once he meditates on it day and night, it is called his Torah, that is he acquires the Torah. (Rashi) Torah needs to be studied with desire, though, from the outset. For instance, if someone desires to study Proverbs rather than Psalms, it is appropriate for him to study what he desires. In addition, the sages of the Talmud recommended studying the entirety of the Torah text swiftly, even though superficially, in order to develop his desire. Then later he will be motivated to meditate deeply. Even if he is liable to forget, even if he doesn't fully understand, the scripture states in Proverbs 'Garsa nafshi l'tava' meaning 'My soul breaks for the longing for Your ordinances'... Likening the soul's intellect to a mill, even if the soul cannot grind the wheat into fine flour (whereby it would understand and digest the meaning), it longs to just break up the grain. - adapted from Artscroll Psalms and Talmud Aboda Zara pp 18-19


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