Musar על ברכות 20:2

Come and see the greatness of the eminence of one who upholds the Torah, and benefits a Torah scholar with his possessions and draws close to him, Scripture considering it as if he [thereby] cleaved to the Shechinah. As Chazal (Kethuvoth 111a) say on the verse (Deuteronomy 4:9): "And you that did cleave to the L-rd your G-d are all alive this day." Now is it possible for a man to cleave to the Shechinah? Is it not written (Ibid. 24): "For the L-rd your G-d is a consuming fire!" The intent is, rather, if one weds his daughter to a Torah scholar, or does business for a Torah scholar, or benefits a Torah scholar with his possessions, it is accounted to him as if he cleaved to the Shechinah." And they stated further (Ibid. 10b): "All who lodge Torah scholars in their homes and offer them of their fare are regarded by Scripture as presenters of daily ['continual'] sacrifices." And (Ibid. 63b): "R. Nechemiah opened [his discourse] in honor of the host, expounding (I Samuel 15:6): 'And Saul said to the Keni: Go, depart, go down from the midst of Amalek, lest I destroy you with him — and you have done lovingkindness with all the children of Israel': Now does this not follow a fortiori? If Yithro, who befriended Moses only for his own honor had this accorded [to his descendants, the Keni], then one who is host to a Torah scholar, and feeds him, and gives him to drink, and treats him of his possessions, how much more so!'… R. Elazar b. R. Yossi Haglili opened [his discourse] in honor of the host, expounding (II Samuel 6:11): 'And the L-rd blessed the house of Oved-Edom… because of the ark of G-d' [which he kept in his house]. Now does this not follow a fortiori? If the ark, which did not eat and did not drink — because they swept and sprinkled before it, thus [were they rewarded], then one who is host to a Torah scholar, and feeds him, and gives him to drink, and treats him of his possessions, how much more so!'"

The story involving Rabbi Tarfon illustrates this, for even though he was being stringent on himself to recline like the view of Beit Shammai, he was told by the sages: "you deserved to be liable for having caused your own death, for you transgressed the view of Beit Hillel!" (Berachot 10b).

Likewise Chizkiyahu said: "to peace it is bitterness for me" (Isaiah 38:17) since the Holy One, blessed be He, answered him: "I will defend this city to save it, for My sake and for the sake of My servant David" (Isaiah 37:35). This is as the statement of our sages: "whoever makes his request depend on his own merit, is shown that it was dependent on the merit of others" (Berachot 10b).