Burning the Midnight Oil

Our sages declare that the night was created for girsa – Torah study. They chose their words carefully: Girsa denotes a cursory type of study, intended to cover ground in Torah. It is not necessarily deep. Yet, the sages maintain that nighttime was created specifically for this type of study.

When a Jew studies Torah, even in its most basic form, he brings light to his personal darkness and to his corner of the world. This comes with a responsibility; even the simplest of our people has the task of making the night shine as day. After all, that’s why night was created.