אמר רבי לוי כל הפוסק מדברי תורה ועוסק בדברי שיחה מאכילין לו גחלי רתמים שנאמר (איוב ל, ד) הקוטפים מלוח עלי שיח ושורש רתמים לחמם אמר ריש לקיש כל העוסק בתורה בלילה הקב"ה מושך עליו חוט של חסד ביום שנאמר יומם יצוה ה' חסדו ובלילה שירו עמי מה טעם יומם יצוה ה' חסדו משום דבלילה שירו עמי
Levi says: Anyone who stops [learning] words of the Torah and indulges in idle gossip will be made to eat glowing coals of juniper, as it is said, “They pluck salt-wort with wormwood; and the roots of juniper are their food” (Job 30:4). Resh Lakish said: Anyone who engages in the study of the Torah by night, the Holy One extends a thread of grace over him by day, as it is said, “By day the Lord will command his lovingkindness, and in the night his song shall be with me” (Psalms 42:9). Why will the Lord command his lovingkindness by day? Because His song shall be with me in the night.
Shemirat HaLashon
And, especially, if one has a time set aside for Torah in the house of study, how much will the trait of guarding his tongue avail his learning that it not be disturbed! For failing that he runs the risk of losing learning every day, and his learning itself will be fragmented. And the greatness of the punishment for this is well known. As Chazal have said (Avodah Zarah 3b): "If one interrupts his Torah study to engage in talk, he is fed broom-coals, as it is written (Iyyov 30:4): 'Those who interrupt maluach [(homiletically) "words written on the tablets" (luchoth)] with [idle] talk, broom-coal roots are their bread.'" And this is measure for measure. For if one studies Torah, his soul endures forever by the light of the holy Torah, which does not consume the soul (G-d forbid), but, to the contrary, sustains it eternally, as bread sustains his body in his lifetime. For this reason, Torah is called "bread," as it is written (Mishlei 9:5): "Come, eat of My bread, etc." And if he stops in the middle of his learning, he indicates that he does not want that bread, wherefore, he is fed there — instead of the food of the soul, the light of Torah — the light [i.e., the fire] of broom-coal roots.
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