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

(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.

(4) When Moses charged us with the Teaching
As the heritage of the congregation of Jacob.

(7) Another matter: “They shall take Me a gift” – that is what is written: “Moses commanded us the Torah” (Deuteronomy 33:4). Rabbi Simlai expounded: Six hundred and thirteen mitzvot were given to Israel through Moses, as that is the numerical value of Torah. If you say it is only six hundred and eleven, and where are the other two; the Rabbis say: “I am [the Lord your God]” (Exodus 20:2) and, “You shall have no [other gods]” (Exodus 20:3) they heard from the mouth of the Almighty, and Moses told them six hundred and eleven, as it is stated: “Moses commanded us the Torah, a heritage…” (Deuteronomy 33:4). Do not read “a heritage [morasha],” but an inheritance [yerusha]; it is an eternal inheritance for Israel. This is analogous to the son of kings who was taken captive overseas when he was young. Even after several years, he is not shy, because he says: I am returning to the inheritance of my ancestors. So too, a Torah scholar who leaves the Torah and engages in other matters, even after several years, if he seeks to return he is not shy, because he says: I am returning to the inheritance of my ancestors.
Another matter: “Heritage” – do not read it “heritage [morasha],” but rather, betrothed [me’orasa]. Just as a groom, as long as he has not married his betrothed he is a frequent visitor to his father-in-law’s house; once he marries her, her father comes to her. So too, until the Torah was given to Israel, “Moses ascended to God” (Exodus 19:3). Once the Torah was given, the Holy One blessed be He said to Moses: “They shall craft a Sanctuary for Me, and I will dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8).
Another matter: Do not read it “heritage [morasha],” but rather, betrothed [me’orasa]; this teaches that the Torah is betrothed to Israel, as it is stated: “I will betroth you to Me forever” (Hosea 2:21). From where is it derived that it is like a married woman for the idolaters? As it is stated: “Can a man stoke fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? If a man walks on hot coals, will his feet not be scalded? So is one who consorts with another’s wife” (Proverbs 6:27–29).

The Gemara shifts to a discussion of an ignoramus who has some degree of sensitivity (Me’iri). Rabbi Ḥiyya taught: Anyone who engages in Torah study in the presence of an ignoramus, causing the ignoramus embarrassment and anguish over his inability to study Torah, is considered as though he had sexual relations with the ignoramus’s betrothed bride in his presence, as it is stated: “Moses commanded us the Torah, an inheritance [morasha] for the congregation of Jacob” (Deuteronomy 33:4). Do not read it as inheritance [morasha]; rather, read it as betrothed [me’orasa]. The Torah is compared to the betrothed bride of the Jewish people until one studies it and thereby consummates his marriage with it.

And Rabbi Yoḥanan says: A gentile who engages in Torah study is liable to receive the death penalty; as it is stated: “Moses commanded us a law [torah], an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob” (Deuteronomy 33:4), indicating that it is an inheritance for us, and not for them.The Gemara challenges: But if so, let the tannacount this prohibition among the seven Noahide mitzvot. The Gemara explains: According to the one who says that the verse is referring to the Torah as an inheritance, this prohibition is included in the prohibition of robbery, as a gentile who studies Torah robs the Jewish people of it. According to the one who says that the verse is referring to the Torah as betrothed, as the spelling of the Hebrew word for betrothed [me’orasa], is similar to that of the word for inheritance [morasha], the punishment of a gentile who studies Torah is like that of one who engages in intercourse with a betrothed young woman, which is execution by stoning.

Rabbi Ami said: The secrets of the Torah may be transmitted only to one who possesses the following five characteristics: “The captain of fifty, and the man of favor, and the counselor, and the cunning charmer, and the skillful enchanter” (Isaiah 3:3). And Rabbi Ami said further: The words of Torah may not be transmitted to a gentile, as it is stated: “He has not dealt so with any nation, and as for His ordinances, they have not known them” (Psalms 147:20).

(12) Another matter, “these are the ordinances,” that is what is written: “He declares His words to Jacob” (Psalms 147:19). One time, Aquila said to the emperor Hadrian: ‘I wish to convert and to become a Jew.’ He said to him: ‘That nation you wish [to join]? How much have I demeaned it, how much of its [people] have I killed! You wish to intermingle with the lowliest of nations. What did you see in them that you wish to convert?’ He said to him: ‘The least among them knows how the Holy One blessed be He created the world, what was created on the first day and what was created on the second day. How long it has been since the world was created and upon what does the world stand. And, their Torah is truth.’ He said to him: ‘Go study their Torah, but do not circumcise yourself.’ Aquila said to him: ‘Even the wisest man in your kingdom or a one-hundred-year-old elder is unable to study their Torah if he is not circumcised,’ as it is written: “He declares His words to Jacob, His statutes and ordinances to Israel. He did not do so with any other nation” (Psalms 147:19–20). But with whom? With the children of Israel.