291. Rabbi Yohanan was strolling with Rabbi Hiya. When they came to a field, Rabbi Yohanan said, “This field was mine, and I sold it so I could be rewarded with Torah.” Rabbi Hiya wept. He said to him, “Why are you crying?” He replied, “Because you did not leave anything for your old age.”
292. He said, “Hiya, my son, is what I did of no value in your eyes, that I left something that was created in six days in order to acquire something that was created in forty days, as it is written, ‘And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights,’ and I acquired great and good things, which cannot be found in the world, which are counsel and resourcefulness, and wisdom, and might, as it is written, ‘Mine is counsel and resourcefulness; I am understanding, Mine is strength?”
293. When Rabbi Yohanan engaged in Torah, his face lit like the brightness of the sun. One day, Rabbi Yosi met him. He said to him, “Look, for your face shines like the brightness of the sun.” He said to him, “It is not that, but rather the Halacha [Jewish law] that is shining in me.” He declared about him the verse, “May those who love Him be like the rising of the sun in its might.”
294. At first, the Torah is called is called Tushiya [resourcefulness/gumption], and then Gevura [strength], as it is written, “Mine are counsel and resourcefulness.” In the beginning, it is called Tushiya because it Mateshet [exhausts] man’s strength since he must fight against the evil inclination and crush his entire body in the seminary until he customizes it to the Torah. Once he is accustomed to engage in Torah, then he has joy and strength, as it is written, “I am understanding, Mine is might.” When a person is accustomed to the Torah and the wisdom, he has glory, and what is strength? To fight the wars of the Lord.
295. The Creator created the world with the Torah, as it is written, “Then I was beside Him as a craftsman [Amon],” do not pronounce Amon, but Oman [artist]. This is “In the beginning god created,” with Resheet God created the heaven and the earth, and this is the Torah.
296. It was created only for fear, which is called Resheet, as it is written, “Fear of the Lord is the Resheet [beginning] of knowledge.” The world was created according to fear, as it is written, “And God has made it that He would be feared.” He made the world so He would be feared, and according to the fear, which is the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.