This Book of the Torah Shall Not Depart from Your Mouth

This Book of the Torah Shall Not Depart from Your Mouth “This Book of the Torah shall not depart from your mouth” (Joshua 1:8). The Torah is entirely spiritual. Therefore, a person whose actions and intellect are pure and refined — spiritual in essence — can fully grasp the Torah and retain it completely without forgetting, for spiritual entities do not occupy physical space. Thus, the Torah can spread and reside within his intellect. However, one who materializes the words of the Torah and treats them as something physical places a limit and measurement on it. Such a person’s intellect can only grasp a finite portion. If he attempts to absorb more, he ends up displacing what he had already acquired — just like with physical objects: when a vessel is full, adding more causes overflow and loss. This is hinted at in the juxtaposition of verses: “This Book of the Torah shall not depart” (Joshua 1:8) and “And darkness was palpable” (Exodus 10:21). The warning is to be cautious not to turn the Torah into materiality or physicality through one’s speech. “From your mouth” means that your own articulation can give Torah a sense of tangibility, which must be avoided. This idea is echoed in the Talmud (Bava Metzia 85a), where it states that Rav Yosef fasted for forty days so that his Torah learning would be retained. In response, he was shown the verse “It shall not depart from your mouth He fasted again, and then he was shown “And from the mouth of your offspring...” (Isaiah 59:21). This implies that so long as Torah does not become materialized through one's speech, it will be preserved, and there will be no forgetting. For spiritual things do not occupy physical space — and thus, cannot be displaced.