What Is the Greatest Good in Life? The Or HaChaim on the Sweetness of Torah

In this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Ki Tavo, we find the following verse:

“You shall rejoice in all the good that the Lord your God has given you and your household, you and the Levite and the stranger who is in your midst.” (Deuteronomy 26:11)

The Or HaChaim offers a beautiful interpretation of the words “all the good”:

“The words ‘all the good’ also allude to the Torah, as our Sages said (Berakhot 5a), ‘There is no good except Torah.’ If people could truly feel the sweetness and pleasantness of the goodness of Torah, they would become overwhelmed and consumed with longing for it. A world filled with silver and gold would be considered worthless in their eyes, for the Torah contains within it all the goodness in the world.”

It is difficult to remain unmoved by these words. The Or HaChaim reveals that the deepest and most genuine “good” is not gold, wealth, or external success, but the Torah itself.

If we could truly experience the sweetness of Torah, he teaches, we would be filled with an overwhelming desire for it. We would yearn for every word, and even all the treasures of the world would seem insignificant by comparison.

The Torah, says the Or HaChaim, contains within it all the goodness in the world.

There is tremendous power in this teaching. It reminds us that our greatest joy is not found in material possessions, but in a living connection with Torah and with its Divine Author, the ultimate Source of light, truth, and life.