The final commandment in the Torah is to write for oneself a Sefer Torah. While the modern practicalities of this commandment are a subject of discussion among the commentators, it is interesting to note that last week, in Parshat Ki Tavo, the Jewish people were also commanded to write a Sefer Torah as well. However, a vast difference exists between the two Sifrei Torah. Bnei Yisrael, upon entry into Eretz Yisrael, were required to engrave the entire Torah upon a large stone, where it would serve as a permanent reminder of the covenant between Hashem and his people. The individual Sefer Torah, however, is very different. Upon the rock, which required little preparation before the Torah was engraved on it, the process of producing a kosher parchment out of goat skin is a long and arduous one. Until the skin has been properly treated, and all foreign objects have been removed, the act of writing the Torah upon it cannot begin, and if it does, the Torah is invalid.
Based upon an idea of the Avnei Nezer, we can suggest the following distinction between the two situations for our own lives. We each have two connections to the Torah – our connection to the Jewish people, and a connection on our own personal level. The part of us that relates to the Torah through our sense of belonging to the community requires no preparation or effort. We all have a “pintele Yid”, a pure connection through our Jewish soul that requires no effort on our part. However, there is another aspect to our service of Hashem, what the Avnei Nezer calls “the externality of the heart, that is like raw material that can be shaped and formed, and therefore needs labor and effort to be purified and cleansed spiritually, before it may receive the Divine Presence. This aspect requires Torah study and mitzvah performance, just as the goat skin required treatment before it is kosher to write a Torah upon it.”
Courtesy of Yeshivat Har Etzion - www.etzion.org.il