Musar for Sukkah 104:2

It is quite true that one can answer that when the sages said that study leads to performance they did not mean to imply that study is part of the objective and what precedes it, but they meant to say that the relationship of study and performance is similar to the relationship of cause and effect. Study is viewed as the cause, performance as the effect. It is generally accepted that the cause is superior to the effect. Our sages (Sukkah 52) illustrated this when they advised that if one encountered Satan i.e. the evil urge, one should drag him to the house of study. This is because the Torah is called תושיה, i.e. something that weakens the flesh. This in turn will enable him to better follow the dictates of his brain and to serve his Creator and perform the commandments. This is the meaning of: "study leads to performance."

When discussing such repairs, תקונים, we must appreciate that the first step in such repairs is the element of סור מרע, "abandon evil," followed by the element of עשה טוב, "do good." The סור מרע element consists of the removal of the pollutants residual within us through the serpent's influence. This infection is one which spread further and further throughout all generations. Because of this, all the people born nowadays originate in what Rabbi Akavyah has called the טפה סרוחה, the smelly drop of semen. When the residue of that smelly drop is removed, Torah can be received in its entirety. Torah represents the element עשה טוב, do good. Torah is the very reverse of pollution. This is the reason the Talmud Sukkah 52b advises that "if the מנוול, i.e. the evil urge, attacks you, drag him to the house of Torah study." After you have done this, G–d's Torah can also be called תורת האדם, the Torah of man. The name אדם for man, the species, stems from the word אדמה in the sense of something very superior; [such as Genesis 2, 7, where man is described as having been formed out of אדמה, which Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai understood as the emanation בינה. Ed.] Man was entitled to that appellation as long as he had not sinned. Man will again be entitled to that name when the Messiah has come and the repair to the world caused by Adam's sin has been completed. The entire process of repair occurs in stages. The four people that have been called by the name אדם, are Adam, David, the Messiah and the people of Israel. [we have mentioned that Israel is a collective term for a single composite concept comprised of many units. Ed.]

Reuben, for instance, believed that from a strictly legal point of view Joseph deserved to be executed because he rebelled against the concept that Royalty was reserved for the house of David, i.e. the tribe of Yehudah. On the other hand, he considered the legislation in Numbers 35,24 and 25, according to which one must try and find every possible extenuating circumstance before subjecting the accused to the ultimate penalty. In actual fact, however, Joseph was not guilty at all, since he neither coveted Royalty for himself nor tried to deny Yehudah's claim to Royalty. Quite the contrary, he tried to advance Yehudah's cause so that the kingdom of David would come about sooner. We have explained earlier that there were three "crowns" to be acquired, the "crown" of Torah being primary. Since Joseph symbolized the "crown" of Torah, the other two "crowns" could be acquired only by means of Joseph paving the way for such a development. Joseph's being the antithesis of Esau enabled the Jewish people to develop, and in due course helped the other two "crowns" to become meaningful. Perhaps this is the reason why the Jewish people carried two arks with them during their trek through the desert to the land of Canaan. One ark contained the tablets with the Ten Commandments as well as the original Torah scroll, the other contained the remains of Joseph. The people paid Joseph a tremendous compliment by carrying both arks side by side, since this conveyed the idea that "this one (Joseph) observed what is recorded in the other one (Torah)." The ark was carried on the shoulders (בכתף ישאו, Numbers 7,9). Because of this little detail, the Midrash phrased the enthusiasm imputed to Reuben, had he been aware of the Torah's compliment to him, in the words: "He would have carried Joseph back to his father on his shoulders."