It's almost impossible to overstate it. And the prophet Elijah, or Eliyahu, plays a key role in driving that point home in some of the most beloved stories.
Ginzberg, in Legends of the Jews, recounts a tale where Elijah, disguised as a rabbi, is approached by a wealthy man. This man offers him a life free from all earthly worries, a life of total ease. All Elijah has to do is leave Yavneh, which was then a major center of Jewish learning. But Elijah refuses! He tells the tempter that even if offered a thousand million gold denarii – an absolutely unimaginable sum – he wouldn't abandon the place of Torah study to live where there is none. Think about that for a second.
Now, when we talk about Torah, we're not just talking about the Five Books of Moses, the written Torah. We're also talking about the oral law, the interpretations and understandings passed down through generations of sages and scholars. Elijah was particularly keen on establishing the authority of this oral law. Why? Because it's through the oral law that we truly understand and apply the written word to our lives. It's how we make it relevant, how we wrestle with its complexities, and how we ensure its continued vitality.
Elijah wasn't just about abstract principles either. He also liked to demonstrate the truth of Scriptural promises, even when they seemed unbelievable. Take this amazing story: Rabbi Joshua ben Levi wanted to see the precious stones that would replace the sun in illuminating Jerusalem in the Messianic era. Quite a request, right?
A vessel at sea was in trouble, about to be shipwrecked. Among the many non-Jewish passengers was one Jewish youth. Eliyahu HaNavi appears to him and says he'll save the ship if the boy takes Rabbi Joshua ben Levi to a specific place far from town and shows him the gems. The boy is skeptical. Would such a great man really follow a young, insignificant boy to the middle of nowhere? Elijah assures him of Rabbi Joshua's humility, and the boy agrees. The ship is saved!
The boy finds Rabbi Joshua and asks him to come on a journey. Rabbi Joshua, displaying incredible modesty, follows the boy for three miles without even asking where they're going or why. Finally, they reach a cave, and the boy says, "Here are the precious stones!"
Rabbi Joshua grasps the stones, and suddenly, a flood of light spreads as far as Lydda, the town where he lives. It's so intense that he's startled and throws the stones away. And just like that, they disappear.
What’s the takeaway here? According to the Zohar, light is a metaphor for Torah (Zohar 1:31b). Elijah, through this miraculous event, showed Rabbi Joshua (and us!) a glimpse of the future and the power of Torah to illuminate the world. The story, as recounted in Midrash Rabbah (Num. 15), underscores the immense value placed on Torah study and the belief in the eventual coming of a Messianic era, illuminated not by the sun, but by the light of Torah itself.
It makes you wonder, doesn't it? What "precious stones" are we overlooking in our own lives? What opportunities to connect with Torah, to deepen our understanding, are we letting slip away? Maybe the real treasure isn't a literal gem, but the light of wisdom and connection that comes from engaging with our tradition.