Musar for Avodah Zarah 10:12

And in Avoth 3:6 we find: "If one takes upon himself the yoke of Torah, there are removed from him … and the yoke of [earning] a livelihood." Their speaking of "taking upon himself the yoke of Torah" rather than of "learning Torah" implies that this is so only if he takes upon himself the yoke of Torah, not to grow lax in it by any means — like an ox under the yoke, as they have said (Avodah Zarah 5b): "It was taught in the school of Eliyahu: 'Let one always make himself as an ox for the yoke and as an ass for the burden for [the sake of] words of Torah.'" And then, even if the burden of the yoke of earning a livelihood were upon him already it is removed from him. How much more so will the L-rd "arrange" things so that it not be put upon him [in the first place]. And the Torah also protects a man to rescue him from the din of Gehinnom even though he sinned — a fortiori, from the instance of Elisha Acher. For they said (Chagigah 15b): "When Acher died, they said: 'Let him not be judged [(to descend to Gehinnom)], for he occupied himself with Torah, and let him not come to the world to come because he sinned [(in heresy)].'" And we find in Aggadath Mishlei: "There is no charity that saves from the din of Gehinnom, but only Torah alone." [And we learned:] "The fathers of the world answered: 'Since you have been caught in the net of judgment, there is nothing you can do but sit and occupy yourselves with Torah, for it [alone] atones for sin.'" They have also said (Chagigah 27a): "The fire of Gehinnom does not prevail over Torah scholars — a fortiori from [the instance of] a salamander, which, since it is generated by fire, one who anoints himself with it, is not affected by fire. How much more so, Torah scholars, whose entire body is fire, viz. (Jeremiah 23:29): "'Is not My word thus like fire?' says the L-rd?"

He prayed for the דבקות to become manifest already before the conquest of the land of Canaan. As long as Israel carries out G–d's wishes this affinity exists, and the name of G–d as well as the throne of G–d is complete. When Israel sinned with the golden calf, one of the four supports of G–d's throne, i.e. the פני השור, "slipped," causing G–d's throne and His name to become impaired. As long as Israel carry out G–d's desires, they are the carriers of the Presence of G–d, they serve as the throne. As long as such a situation continues they are called אדם, i.e. they represent the פני אדם mentioned in Ezekiel's vision as one of the four carriers of G–d's throne (Ezekiel 1,10). The study of the Torah is one leg of the four legs supporting G–d's throne, the one called פני השור. This is based on ורב תבואות בכח השור (Proverbs 14,4). Our sages have said that one should apply oneself to Torah study as an ox applies himself to the yoke (Avodah Zarah 5). When it comes to the practical performance of what is written in the Torah one should behave like a lion and an eagle, as we know from Rabbi Yehudah ben Teyma in Avot 5,20. The Rabbi refers to the sharp eye possessed by the eagle and the courage possessed by the lion, a function of the heart. The Torah itself warns us not to allow our eyes and our hearts to make us stray from the path of Torah (Numbers 15,39), evidence that these two organs are of prime importance in carrying out G–d's commandments. Should Israel fail to live up to these obligations, also these two legs of G–d's throne would collapse.