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Page 69, perek 11, se'if 9.
"Learning Torah is the cure for all ills and sicknesses" [of course not things like broken bones, etc.] - the obvious question is, "how can that be?" Talmud Torah (learning) infuses life - this is not about intellectual learning, but about insight and understanding. There is a natural human desire to stop evil, and the truth of Torah must be connected to that desire. If the whole creation was only for Torah, why were there 26 generations [before Har Sinai] which Hashem sustained with chessed (kindness)? They were needed to develop the natural aspect of the divine image (tzelem Elokim) in humankind. This is the derech eretz (way of the world / respect) which is the precondition for absorbing Torah. That is why we say that "derech eretz kodmah leTorah" (respect preceded [was the introduction] to Torah). A person who is not a mentsch, who is lacking derech eretz, is not a receptacle for Torah.
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