NUM180 R. Me'ir said: Whoever occupies himself with the study of Torah for its own sake merits many things; and not only that, but the entire world is worthwhile because of him. … it puts him far from sin and brings him near to virtue. … Pirkei Avot, Perek VI, mishnah 1. We cannot shut out or control the world about us. At times the leering visage of sinful temptation will loom before us. Then we must remember the Torah's words, "you shall not follow after your heart and after your eyes" [this verse]. True, sin may rise up unbidden to tempt your heart or lure your gaze. But you need not follow after it. You need not welcome it, dwell upon it, explore the possibilities. The beginning of sin, say the Sages, is in the heart's cogitation. (Talmud, minor tractate Derech Eretz Zuta vi). Neither judo nor karate can deal with the evil Tempter when the heart is seized with wicked thoughts. Therefore the Sages advise, "If this repulsive degenerate [Satan, the Tempter] encounters you, drag him into the beth midrash, the House of Study. If he is stone, he will be dissolved; if iron, he will be shattered to smithereens…" (T.B. Sukkah 52b, Kiddishin 30b). The strongest temptation will not survive in an atmosphere of Torah. It is said you must fight fire with fire (Montaigne, Essays (1594), iii 5 ("Fire is put out by fire"; Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet (1595), i 2, 46 ("One fire burns out another's burning"). If sinful temptation can inflame the passions with desire, the Torah can counter it. In Moses' Divine imagery, "The Lord came from Sinai ... at His right hand a fiery law ..." for, as the Sages envisioned it, the Torah was primordially written in "black fire on white fire" (Deuteronomy 33:2 and Rashi on it; Midrash Tahuma, B'reshith 1; Zohar III 132a). Its flaming truth alone, given amid fire at Sinai by the Diety, Himself described as a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24, 9:23. That it was given amid fire, see Exodus 19:18, Deuteronomy 4:11-12, 5:4, 20-22), can subdue man's base animal passions. For it sensitizes and deepens our awareness of right and wrong, then ingrains in us the great, transcendent principle of reward and punishment. Through the Torah man learns that his deeds bring a response--good for good, evil for evil. And as it weans man from the pursuit and gratification of his animal drives and vile passions, it gives him a vision of higher goals to attain. The ordinary man may need a beth midrash, saturated with the Torah's atmosphere, to help him overcome evil temptation. The dedicated student of Torah has his own "built-in protection." With constant study he has absorbed its teachings of reward and punishment; with its mitzvoth he has learned to regulate and control his life in accord with the Divine will.