348. Testimony (1)

There are many things which a person testifies about himself by the way that he acts. For example, if a person says that he is upset that he is not a learned man, we can test him by looking at how he acts with his children, for if he puts his life on the line with all of his strength and money to ensure that his children are learned, this is a sign that he truly values the Torah highly. Similarly, if a person says that if he would be rich and would not need to work for his living that he would spend his entire day occupied with Torah and service of Hashem, we can also test him by looking at how he occupies himself on Shabbos and the festivals and any other free time that he has, and if he spends that time in studying the Torah and occupying himself with the service of Hashem, then his words have been proven to be true, and Hashem will reward him as the way of Hashem is that if one intends to perform a good deed and ends up not doing it, Hashem considers as if it had been done. However, one who does not do this, has shown that his words are only lip-deep, and He who sits in heaven will laugh at him.

There is another way to verify if a person truly loves and values the Torah. This is achieved by watching if he tries with all of his heart to support those who study Torah with his body or money, in order to share their portion in the world to come.