730. Nicer than Gold

Words of Torah: 1) They are holy. 2) They are sublime. 3) They are sweet, as it is written, “Nicer than gold and from much fine gold, and sweeter than honey” (The Zohar, Part 3, 149 [in Hebrew]).

We need to understand these three phrases. The Zohar advises that we should learn in order for it to bring Kedusha [holiness] to a person. This is the meaning of “The words of the Torah are holy.” The Kedusha that a person wants is in order to achieve Dvekut [adhesion], meaning to bestow, called “an ascent,” as Baal HaSulam said, that an ascent means Hizdakchut [cleansing]. This is the meaning of the words, “They are sublime.”

At that time, we taste the sweetness of the Torah in it. This is why it is written, “They are sweet.” Otherwise, when we learn Torah, it is utterly tasteless, and as one comes, so one leaves, and he does not know what is required of him, and does not know what is written in it. He does not agree with “You shall not commit adultery,” meaning the quality of the heart and the quality of slander. It is written in it, “You shall not commit murder”; he does not agree. Thus, which … he will have when I learn.

Rather, “We will do and we will hear,” and this is the meaning of overcoming.