Avos 2:12 וְהַתְקֵן עַצְמְךָ לִלְמֹד תּוֹרָה, שֶׁאֵינָהּ יְרֻשָּׁה לָךְ

(12)Rabbi Yose said: Let the property of your fellow be as precious unto you as your own; Make yourself fit to study Torah for it will not be yours by inheritance; And let all your actions be for [the sake of] the name of heaven.

"Prepare yourself to study Torah": Such that you not say, "Since my father was a sage and the father of my father was a sage, the Torah will come back to its lodgings, and I do not need to seek after it."

Prepare yourself to study Torah: Prepare yourself with good traits so that you can study the Torah and reach the level of piety, as it stated (Avot 2:5), "An ignorant person cannot be pious." And this is what Shlomo, peace be upon him, stated (Proverbs 24:7), "Wise things are too lofty for a fool; he does not open his mouth in the gate." He wanted to say that [for] the fool wisdom is 'far and very high - who can find it.' And in the place where they determine the law and speak with wisdom, he muzzles his mouth - as he does not know [what] to answer. "He who has thoughts to do harm is called by men a master of plots" (Proverbs 24:7) - that you not say, it is because the fool's intellect is not (with intentions) [directed], that he is not wise; since he does not have the reasoning to know wisdom. As behold, he has thoughts to do harm and his reasoning is great and sharp to do evil to the point that he is nicknamed and they call him, "the master of plots." Rather the wisdom of Torah does not rest upon him because of the evil of his heart - as he has the vessel (mind) with which to receive it. Also included in "Prepare yourself to study Torah" is to minimize pleasures, so that he learn much Torah - as we have learned (Avot 6:4), "This is the way [to toil in] Torah: eat bread with salt and drink a small amount of water and sleep on the ground and live a life [whose conditions will cause you] pain and in Torah you toil." As one who increases luxuries will not have wisdom dwell within him - as they said, his neck is fat, (his koa) [his calf] is wide.

(2)if there is no worldly occupation, there is no Torah: He wants to say that he first has to perfect himself in [his traits]. And through this, the Torah will rest upon him, as it never rests upon a body that is not in possession of good traits. [And] he should not learn Torah and afterwards take the commandments for himself, as this is impossible. And this is like the matter that is stated (Exodus 24:7), "we will do and we will understand," and like we have written [about it].

(3) Another matter, “and for one who sets [vesam] his path” – Rabbi Yanai said: It is written vesham, [indicating] that one who assesses [deshayem] his path, his value is great. There was an incident involving Rabbi Yanai who was walking along the way, and he saw a certain person who was exceedingly distinguished in dress. He said to him: ‘Would the Rabbi [agree to] be received as a guest with us?’ He said to him: ‘Yes.’ He took him into his house and gave him food and drink. He tested him in Bible, but did not find him knowledgeable; in Mishna, but did not find him knowledgeable; in agadda, but did not find him knowledgeable; in Talmud, but did not find him knowledgeable. He said to him: ‘Take and recite the blessing.’ He said to him: ‘Let Yanai recite the blessing in his house.’ He said to him: ‘Are you able to repeat what I say to you?’ He said to him: ‘Yes.’ He said to him: ‘Say, the dog ate Yanai’s piece of bread.’ [The guest] stood and grabbed [Rabbi Yanai] and said to him: ‘My inheritance is with you and you are preventing me from it.’ He said: ‘In what sense is your inheritance with me?’ He said to him: ‘One time, I was passing before a school and I heard the voices of the children saying: “Moses commanded us Torah, the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob” (Deuteronomy 33:4). “The inheritance of the congregation of Yanai” is not written here, but rather “the congregation of Jacob.”’ He said to him: ‘Why did you merit to eat at my table?’ He said to him: ‘In all my days, I never heard a bad word and related it to its subject, and I never saw two [people] quarreling with one another and did not make peace between them.’ He said: ‘You have so much civility to your credit, and I called you a dog?’ He applied in his regard: “And for one who sets his path” – one who assesses his path, his value is great. As Rabbi Yishmael bar Rav Naḥman said: Civility preceded the Torah by twenty-six generations. That is what is written: “To guard the path to the tree of life” (Genesis 3:24). “Path,” this is civility, and then “the tree of life,” this is the Torah.
“I will show him the salvation of God” (Psalms 50:23), Rabbi Abahu said: This is one of the verses in which the salvation of the Holy One blessed be He is the salvation of Israel: “It is for You to save us” (Psalms 80:3).

(9) I had ascended the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the Tablets of the Covenant that ה׳ had made with you, and I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights, eating no bread and drinking no water.

The Gemara asks: And why do I need three calves? One calf should be sufficient for three guests. Rav Ḥanan bar Rava said:Abraham prepared three calves in order to feed the guests three tongues with mustard, a particular delicacy. With regard to this incident, Rabbi Tanḥum bar Ḥanilai says: A person should never deviate from the local custom, as Moses ascended to heaven on high and did not eat bread while he was there, whereas the ministering angels descended down to this world, as guests visiting Abraham,and they ate bread. You say: And they ate bread? Can it enter your mind that they actually ate food? Rather, say that they merely appeared as though they ate and drank.

(2)Prepare yourself to study Torah: Prepare yourself with good traits so that you can study the Torah and reach the level of piety, as it stated (Avot 2:5), "An ignorant person cannot be pious." And this is what Shlomo, peace be upon him, stated (Proverbs 24:7), "Wise things are too lofty for a fool; he does not open his mouth in the gate." He wanted to say that [for] the fool wisdom is 'far and very high - who can find it.' And in the place where they determine the law and speak with wisdom, he muzzles his mouth - as he does not know [what] to answer. "He who has thoughts to do harm is called by men a master of plots" (Proverbs 24:7) - that you not say, it is because the fool's intellect is not (with intentions) [directed], that he is not wise; since he does not have the reasoning to know wisdom. As behold, he has thoughts to do harm and his reasoning is great and sharp to do evil to the point that he is nicknamed and they call him, "the master of plots." Rather the wisdom of Torah does not rest upon him because of the evil of his heart - as he has the vessel (mind) with which to receive it. Also included in "Prepare yourself to study Torah" is to minimize pleasures, so that he learn much Torah - as we have learned (Avot 6:4), "This is the way [to toil in] Torah: eat bread with salt and drink a small amount of water and sleep on the ground and live a life [whose conditions will cause you] pain and in Torah you toil." As one who increases luxuries will not have wisdom dwell within him - as they said, his neck is fat, (his koa) [his calf] is wide.

(12) The words of Torah will not be permanently acquired by a person who applies himself feebly [to obtain] them, and not by those who study amid pleasure and [an abundance] of food and drink. Rather, one must give up his life for them, constantly straining his body to the point of discomfort, without granting sleep to his eyes or slumber to his eyelids.
The Sages alluded to this concept, [interpreting Numbers 19:14:] "This is the Torah, a man should he die in a tent..." [to mean that] the Torah cannot be permanently acquired except by a person who gives up his life in the tents of wisdom.
Similarly, Solomon said in his wisdom [Proverbs 24:10]: "If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small." He also said [Ecclesiastes 2:9]: "Also, my wisdom remained with me." [This can be interpreted to mean:] The wisdom which I learned in anger, this is what remained with me.
Our Sages declared: A covenant has been established that anyone who wearies himself in Torah study in a house of study will not forget it quickly. Anyone who wearies himself in Torah study in private will become wise, as [Proverbs 11:2] states: "To the modest will come wisdom."
Whoever raises his voice during his studies will permanently acquire the subject matter. In contrast, one who reads silently will forget quickly.

(1)“Speak to the children of Israel, and they shall take Me a gift; from every man whose heart pledges, you shall collect My gift” (Exodus 25:2).
“They shall take Me a gift” – that is what is written: “For a good lesson [lekaḥ] I have given you: My Torah, do not forsake it” (Proverbs 4:2). Do not forsake the acquisition [mikaḥ] that I gave to you. You have a person who acquires an acquisition, there is gold in it but there is no silver in it, there is silver in it but there is no gold in it. But the acquisition that I gave you, there is silver in it, as it is stated: “The sayings of the Lord are pure sayings, like silver purified” (Psalms 12:7), and there is gold in it, as it is stated: “They are more desirable than gold, than quantities of fine gold” (Psalms 19:11).
There is a person who acquires fields but not orchards, orchards but not fields; but this acquisition, there are fields in it and there are orchards in it, as it is stated: “Your irrigated fields are an orchard of pomegranates” (Song of Songs 4:13).
You have a person who acquires an acquisition, but people do not know what it is. However, from the fee of the intermediary it is known what he acquired. So too, the Torah, people know what it is only from the reward that Moses received, as it is stated: “Moses did not know that the skin of his face was radiant as He spoke with him” (Exodus 34:29).
You have an acquisition that the one who sold it is sold with it. The Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: I sold you the Torah; as it were, I was sold with it, as it is stated: “And they shall take Me a gift.” This is analogous to a king who had an only daughter. One of the kings came and took her [as a wife], and sought to go to his land and take his wife [with him]. He said to him: ‘My daughter whom I gave to you is an only child. To part from her, I am unable; to say to you do not take her, I am unable, because she is your wife. Rather, do this favor for me; wherever you go, prepare a small bedroom for me, so I can live with you, as I cannot forsake my daughter.’ So too, the Holy One blessed be He said to Israel: ‘I gave you the Torah. To leave it, I am unable. To say to you do not take it, I am unable. Rather, every place you go, build a house for Me so I may reside in it,’ as it is stated: “They shall craft a Sanctuary for Me, [and I will dwell among them]” (Exodus 25:8).

(2) He said:
ה׳ came from Sinai,
And shone upon them from Seir;
[God] appeared from Mount Paran,
And approached from Ribeboth-kodesh,
Lightning flashing at them from [God’s] right.

(7)ואתה מרבבות קדש, and arrived with the myriads of holy ones. According to Rashi who quotes Sifri, the letter מ preceding the word רבבות means that G'd was accompanied only by some of the myriads of holy beings, or at least the Torah describes it in this fashion to demonstrate the "humility" of G'd. According to this view the word ואתה means "He brought." This is certainly not the plain meaning of this word. On the other hand, if we understand the word ואתה to mean "He came," there is no proof that G'd was accompanied by even some of His holy hosts. Perhaps those commentators thought that there was no need to mention that G'd was accompanied by merely some of His myriads of holy hosts and that therefore He was accompanied by all of them. What the Torah does tell us then is that though G'd was accompanied by all these myriads of holy hosts He did not leave them in a terrestrial domain. (8) If we ignore the conventional explanations we may view what is written here as a reflection of the spiritual level of the Jewish people. The Torah tells us that G'd left behind Him in the Celestial Regions the myriads of holy hosts and instead came to take up residence amongst the Jewish people here on earth. The word ואתה means that G'd arrived for a permanent visit with the Jewish people, making them His people and His inheritance. The Zohar on Terumah item 140 describes the anguish experienced by these heavenly hosts when they became aware that G'd had moved His abode to the "lower" terrestrial regions.