As we return the Torah to the ark, we recite the verse from Proverbs, “It is a tree of life to them who lay hold upon it.”

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: Why are Torah matters likened to a tree, as it is stated: “It is a tree of life to them who lay hold upon it” (Proverbs 3:18)? This verse comes to tell you that just as a small piece of wood can ignite a large piece, so too, minor Torah scholars can sharpen great Torah scholars and enable them to advance in their studies. And this is what Rabbi Ḥanina said: I have learned much from my teachers and even more from my friends, but from my students I have learned more than from all of them. (Taanit 7a)

This is a profound truth, both on the personal and on the societal level. As a congregational rabbi, the time when I must think the hardest is when I am asked a question by a student in religious school. It is then that I have to come up with an answer that is succinct, clear, and entirely truthful (kids have a bs-meter that is not to be believed—if I’m making it up, they will know).

More important than honing any one scholar’s skill, though, is the ability of the Torah/Tree of Life to shape a whole society. Just imagine a society that is centered on truth-seeking! A society where intellectual and spiritual advancement is the shared goal. What would that be like? Well, remember where the image of a “tree of life” comes from—the Garden of Eden. Our prayer is asserting that a society centered on the search for wisdom would be paradisiacal.

But that raises an interesting question. Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden “lest man put forth his hand and take also of the Tree of Life, and eat and live forever.” So why was it forbidden then but encouraged now? Adam and Eve, at the very birth of humanity, had never experienced death. So how could they possibly understand how precious the gift of life was? A life lived forever, with no awareness of the alternative, would ultimately become undervalued and boring. We, on the other hand, who have experienced both personally and societally the frightening and painful reality of death—we can understand what life is worth.

And no life is more worthwhile than a life of Torah.