Articles and Letters / ‘Torah Supporters’ – 149
The verse states, ‘And I gave them in My house and in my walls a holding and a name better than progeny, I will give them an eternal name that will not cease’. This verse can be explained as referring to supporters of Torah, that a person should support others learning just as he does his own children. This can be compared to an archer who will surely use arrows he did not make if he ran out of arrows he made. So too, if a person does not have children, or if he already teaches his children Torah, he should support others learning Torah to vanquish the spiritual enemy of the Jewish people. The verse stipulates ‘better than progeny’, for in some way it is better to support others learning Torah than to teach one’s own children, since a person does not know whether his progeny will choose to learn and follow the Torah, but when supporting others he can choose the best learners, the fiercest fighters in Hashem’s army who vanquish their evil inclination.