The Right and the Left of the Torah

Learning Torah Lishmah vs. Lo-Lishmah

As a post-script to our essay Cunning: Skill to Achieve One’s Goals by Deceit, Rav Sheishet taught (Shabbat 63a): מַאי דִכְתִיב ״אֹרֶךְ יָמִים בִּימִינָהּ בִּשְׂמֹאלָהּ עֹשֶׁר וְכָבוֹד״ אֶלָּא בִּימִינָהּ אֹרֶךְ יָמִים אִיכָּא, עֹשֶׁר וְכָבוֹד לֵיכָּא?! אֶלָּא: לַמַּיְימִינִין בָּהּ אֹרֶךְ יָמִים אִיכָּא, וְכָל שֶׁכֵּן עוֹשֶׁר וְכָבוֹד. לַמַּשְׂמְאִילִים בָּהּ עוֹשֶׁר וְכָבוֹד אִיכָּא, אוֹרֶךְ יָמִים לֵיכָּא (What is the meaning of that which is written [Mishlei 3:16]: ‘Length of days are in her [the Torah’s] right hand, in her left hand are wealth and honor’? But, [can it mean] in her right hand there is length of days, but not wealth and honor?! Rather, to those who deal with her right-handedly, there is length of days, and all the more so wealth and honor; to those who deal with her left-handedly, there is wealth and honor, but no length of days).

What is the meaning of dealing with the Torah ‘right-handedly’ or dealing with it ‘left-handedly’? Rashi provides us with two explanations. The first is that those who deal with the Torah ‘right-handedly’ are those who seek out the precise reasons for the Torah’s teachings, and clarify everything like a skilled craftsman. On the other hand, those who deal with the Torah ‘left-handedly’ are those who do not work very hard at learning Torah. They are willing to learn Torah, but only when it suits them – learning without any self-sacrifice. The second interpretation is that dealing with the Torah ‘right-handedly’ refers to learning Torah lishmah, for its own sake – simply because Hashem commanded us to learn His holy Torah – whereas dealing with it ‘left-handedly’ refers to learning Torah lo-lishmah, not for its own sake, but rather for ulterior motives, such as to increase one’s prestige in the eyes of others or to enrich oneself at the expense of others.

Clearly, Lavan provides us with an archetype of those who learn ‘left-handedly’ whereas Ya’akov provides us with an archetype of those who learn Torah ‘right-handedly’. Whether we go with Rashi’s first explanation or his second explanation, our conclusion should be the same: We should examine ourselves very carefully to see where we fall on the spectrum.