The Infinite Value of Every Moment: Why One Word of Torah Outweighs a Lifetime of Pleasure

On the unfathomable spiritual value of even the smallest sacred act, Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian related in the name of the saintly elder of Kelm that it would have been worthwhile for God to create the world for six thousand years if, during all of creation, a single Jew merited to say just once: “Blessed is He and blessed is His Name.”

Yet even a thousand recitations of “Blessed is He and blessed is His Name” do not equal the worth of answering Amen once. A thousand Amens do not compare to a single utterance of “Amen, yehei Shemei rabba.” And even a thousand “Amen, yehei Shemei rabba” do not reach the spiritual value of one single word of Torah study.

The conclusion of this teaching is rooted in the Mishnah (Peah 1:1): “And the study of Torah is equal to them all.”

One Hour of the World to Come

Our Sages taught in Pirkei Avot (4:17): “One hour of spiritual delight in the World to Come is greater than all the life of this world.”

Masters of ethical thought explain that this means the following: if we were to gather every physical pleasure ever experienced by all human beings throughout history of past, present, and future — kings and paupers alike, and compress them into a single moment, that moment would still be insignificant compared to one hour of true spiritual delight in the World to Come.

This pleasure is beyond human imagination. As Rambam explains, just as it is impossible to explain color to someone born blind, it is impossible to describe spiritual delight to a soul bound within a physical body.

If such immense reward exists for responding “Blessed is He and blessed is His Name,” how staggering is the reward for even one word of Torah.

This is a calculation, taught by the Chafetz Chaim in Torat HaBayit, that should be repeated daily and proclaimed publicly. Every Jew strives to avoid gossip, to honor Shabbat, to perform kindness — but how much more must one strive to use every possible moment for Torah study, whose reward is so boundless.

Torah Study: Every Word Is a Commandment

Most commandments involve an action that takes time, beginning with the act and ending when the act is complete. Torah study is fundamentally different.

The verse states: “You shall contemplate it day and night” (Yehoshua 1:8). Each individual word of Torah constitutes a distinct mitzvah.

The Chafetz Chaim calculates that in one minute, a person can speak approximately two hundred words of Torah, which amounts to two hundred mitzvot in a single minute. One hour of learning thus equals twelve thousand mitzvot. From the perspective of eternity, the Torah scholar is the truly wealthy person.

This is the secret of “one coin joining another to form a great sum” — moments accumulating into eternal riches.

The Unique Power of Shabbat

There are times when a single moment is exponentially more valuable. The great Kabbalist Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad writes (Ben Ish Chai, Year Two, Parashat Shemot) that one minute of Torah study on Shabbat is equivalent to one thousand minutes during the week.

This explains the verse: “God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it” (Bereishit 2:3). Sanctification means elevation and separation. Shabbat exists on a higher spiritual plane, where time itself flows differently.

Learning When Others Do Not

The Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni) records Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai teaching that when a generation weakens in Torah study, one who strengthens himself at that time receives the reward of all.

Similarly, Avot d’Rabbi Natan (ch. 3) teaches: “One deed done with hardship is better than one hundred done with ease.” Torah learned amid financial stress, illness, or exhaustion multiplies its reward.

The Sdei Chemed writes that Torah study in a group multiplies reward according to the number of participants. The Chafetz Chaim adds (Ahavat Chesed, Part II) that public Torah learning sanctifies God’s Name, which is why Kaddish is recited afterward.

Every Moment Is Irreplaceable

Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin explains in Nefesh HaChaim (Gate II, ch. 13), citing Tikkunei Zohar, that each prayer and each moment of Torah study operates in a different spiritual dimension. One cannot compensate later for a missed moment, as each instant has a unique spiritual destination.

This is why the Talmud (Chagigah 9b) applies the verse “That which is crooked cannot be repaired” (Kohelet 1:15) to missed prayers or neglected Torah study.

Stories of the Great Ones

It is told of the Chafetz Chaim that he once wept bitterly after realizing he could not account for ten minutes of his time during the year.

Likewise, Rabbi Elazar Menachem Man Shach, during wartime blackouts, climbed into an attic with a candle to continue learning Torah, unable to tolerate a moment without study.

The Ultimate Question

The Talmud teaches (Shabbat 31a) that one of the first questions asked of a soul is: “Did you set fixed times for Torah study?”

No excuse can withstand that moment. Fortunate is the one who can answer, with joy and clarity, “Yes.”