Musar על מגילה 53:12

In the chapter "Bnei HaIr" (Megilah 27b): "Rabbi Zakkai was asked by his disciples: 'in virtue of what have you merited such long life?' He replied: Never in my life have I made water within four cubits of a place where prayer is said, nor have I called my fellow by a nickname, nor have I missed making Kiddush on the [Sabbath] day. I had an old mother who once sold her headdress so as to bring me [wine for] the Kiddush".

It was also forbidden to sit on a bed which a Torah scroll lies upon (Moed Katan 25a). Likewise, they said: "it is forbidden to throw out holy writings, even Halachot (laws) and Agadot" (Eruvin 98a, Rambam Hilchot Sefer Torah ch.10). Likewise, they forbade putting books of the Prophets and Writings on top of the Five Books of Moses (Megilah 27a). These are things that our sages, of blessed memory, forbade on the entire congregation of Israel. But the Chasid should learn from them and add on them in various ways for the honor of the Name of the L-rd, his G-d.

I believe that I can add another dimension to the understanding of this מדרש, and to relate it to the commandment of פריה ורביה, the duty to procreate. I also mean to explain why the Talmud (Megillah 27) says that the only reason one is allowed to sell a Torah scroll is to enable one to fulfill the commandment to get married and to beget children. The Talmud there simply says that the reason for this is the verse in Isaiah 45,18: "He did not create it to be a waste, but formed it for habitation." why does the Talmud not quote the commandment from the Torah which is very specific, and is content to quote an indirect reference from the prophets? The same question can be raised against a statement in Chagigah 2b, where the Talmud also denies a person who is partially a slave and partially free the right not to marry by citing the above verse in Isaiah as its reason. Tosaphot, in addressing themselves to that problem, come to the conclusion that the statement in Isaiah is more compelling than the commandment פרו ורבו. No explanation is offered why this should be so.