To the conductor, for the sons of Korah. Hear this, all you peoples. As it is written (Ecclesiastes 11:7), "Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun." Rabbi Yitzchak and Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: Rabbi Yitzchak said, "The light of the world to come is sweet."
Happy is he who has good deeds to his credit, so that he may behold the light. As it is said (Judges 5:31), "And they that love Him shall be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might." Rabbi Abba said, "How sweet are the words of Torah, which are compared to light." As it is said (Proverbs 6:23), "For the commandment is a lamp and the Torah is light."
Happy is he who sees the Torah as white as snow, since its reward is limitless. When the Holy One, blessed be He, comes to reward Israel for their toil in Torah and bestows upon them the merit of it, in the time to come, they will say to the nations of the world, "We have acquired our share through occupying ourselves with the Torah." And what would you say to us, who labored for nothing? Behold the reward of our toil.
As it is said, "Hear this, all you peoples," and this refers only to the Torah, as it is written (Deuteronomy 4:44), "This is the Torah." Listen, all you inhabitants of Haled, for what reason is it called "Haled"? Because the countenances of the wicked become haled in Gehenna in the future. And who are they?
They are both sons of man and sons of Ish. Sons of man, this refers to Abraham, who was called "the great man among the giants" (Joshua 14:15). And who are the sons of Ishmael and Keturah? They too are sons of Ish.
This refers to the sons of Noah, who was called "a righteous man" (Genesis 6:9). Another interpretation is that they are the idolaters who descend to Gehenna....