Bringing the Bread of Torah from Afar Like Merchant Ships

"She is like the merchant ships; she brings her bread from afar" (Proverbs 31:14) - Rabbi Shimon ben Chalafta said: If a person does not expose himself for the words of Torah, he will never learn Torah; and "bread" means nothing other than Torah, as it is said, "Come, eat of my bread" (Proverbs 9:5). "She rises while it is still night" (Proverbs 31:15) - as long as a Torah scholar sits and engages in Torah at night, the Holy One, blessed be He, draws over him a thread of grace [by day], as it is said, "By day the LORD commands His lovingkindness, and at night His song is with me" (Psalms 42:9). And not only that, but the Holy One, blessed be He, supplies him his sustenance each and every day, as it is said, "She rises while it is still night and gives food to her household," and "food" means nothing other than sustenance, as it is said, "He has given food to those who fear Him" (Psalms 111:5); and it says, "And the dove came to him toward evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf" (Genesis 8:11), and she says, "Happy is the person whose food is bitter as an olive and given over into the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, and not sweet as honey and given over into the hand of flesh and blood." Why? Because the Holy One, blessed be He, feeds and sustains all His creatures, as it is said, "You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing" (Psalms 145:16).