By Rabbi Shlomo Zargari:
Shalom, Harav Elchanan Wasserman זצוק״ל הי״ד writes in his famous Sefer קובץ מאמרים , a very interesting thought.
Our Hachamim teach us:
HaShem forgives the sin of idle worship, adultery and murder, however when it comes to the sin of not studying the Torah, He would not forgive:
על עזבם את תורתי״”
“ they have forsaken my Torah.” So to speak HaShem says I would rather they leave me than to leave my Torah.
He explains, when two are battling each other, even if one beats the other, the battle is not over, because there’s a possibility next time the other side will win. However when one attacks and takes away the weapons of the other and he remains without a weapon, that’s when the victory is declared and the battle is over, because it’s impossible to fight without weapons.
The same holds true in the battle with our יצר הרע evil inclination. HaShem tells us “ I created the inclination and I created its antidote- the Torah. The only method to fight the יצר הרע is the learning of the Torah.
If our nation is lax in the study of the Torah, our weapon is gone, we have nothing to fight with against the evil. If people commit other sins even harsh ones, there’s still hope. It would be possible that through the study of the Torah they will repent and that’s what our Hachamim write, המאור שבה מחזירן למוטב , the light ( of Torah ) will bring them back to the correct direction. That’s why the evil focuses most to stop the study and support of the Torah more than any other Misva.
He continues and writes that he heard from the holy חפץ חיים זצוק״ל
“He ( the evil inclination) doesn’t care about the Jews fasting and crying and praying all day, as long as they don’t study the Torah.
“Abraham Avinu was the pillar of kindness, Yishagh, the pillar of service and Yaakov was the pillar of Torah. That’s why the Satan tried to hold back Yaakov Avinu the most.
This is true for all the generations that follow.
Shabbat Shalom