DEUT1639 R. Yehudah said: If one is given a Torah scroll to read, and he does not do so, his life is shortened, as it is written: "For it is the life and the length of your days" (Berachoth 55a)

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DEUT1640 Torah Study is one of those things the doer of which eats the fruits in this world and the principal in the world to come, as it is written: "For it is the life and the length of your days" (Kiddushin 40a)

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DEUT1641 "Great is charity for it prolongs the days and years of man, as it is said [this verse]: 'For that is your life and the length of your days.' And it is stated too (Proverbs 3:18): 'It is a tree of life to them that grasp it.' Now we may argue from premise to conclusion (Kal Vechomer): If for the very lightest of all mitzvoth it is promised (Deuteronomy 22:27 [sic. Possible references to Deut. 4:40, 5:30, and/or 11:9? - AJL]) 'So that it should be well with you that you may prolong your days,' how much more so is this true of charity, one of the most important mitzvoth of the Torah. Great is charity for it leads man to the world to come, as it is said (Psalms 1:1): '(Ashrei) Happy is the man that has not walked in the counsel of the wicked…', And also (Psalm 106:3) '(Ashrei) Happy are they that keep justice, that give charity at all times. 'Ashrei (Happy) is used in connection with Torah, and also in connection with charity. Just as the ashrei referring to Torah assures life in the world to come, so does ashrei referring to charity."

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DEUT1642 R. Elazar said: It is forbidden to accompany an ignoramus on the road, is being written: "For it [Torah] is your life." If he [the ignoramus] is heedless of his own life; how much more so will he be heedless of the life of his neighbor! (Pesachim 49b)

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DEUT1643 See [[DEUT135]] Deuteronomy 4:37 loved OXFORD 40

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DEUT1644 In how many ways should a person hold himself to an accounting before God? I say that there are a multitude of ways in which to make such an accounting. Of these, I will point out thirty. They can clarify to a person what he owes God, if he will bring them to mind and undertake to reflect on them and remember them always. God's Book and one's attitude toward it. … 5. One should make a personal accounting of his delay in coming to understand God's Torah and of his contentedness with not grasping its contents. He would not act this way in regard to a book that came to him from a human King, in the event that he was not sure of its meaning, for example, because of incomprehensible handwriting or diction; the depth, subtlety, or complexity of its material; or its rhetorical style. Rather, he would focus his mind and concentrate all his thoughts in order to understand its meaning, and he would be greatly distressed until he understood its intention. Now, if he would go to such lengths to understand the book of a human being, weak and mortal like himself, how much greater is it his obligation to go far beyond this in order to understand the Book of his God, which is the source of his life, as it says: “For it is the source of your life and long endurance” (Devarim 30:20). How could you permit yourself, my brother, to neglect it and be content with what is easily understood and readily apparent, while disregarding the rest? Do you realize how faulty and disreputable your behavior has been in this regard? Does it not resemble the conduct of the one of whom it was said, “You praised the Gods of silver and gold, of bronze and iron, of wood and stone, who do not see or hear or know anything; but the God in Whose hand are your soul and all your ways, you did not glorify ” (Daniyel 5:23).

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