The different subjects of Torah each draw a unique Revelation:

The purpose of the 365 negative commands is to separate evil from G-d, while the purpose of the 248 positive commands is to draw G-dliness down below. Now just as there exists many different foods with different qualities and tastes and pleasures, so too there exists many different forms of Mitzvah’s, each one drawing down its unique flavor of G-dly Revelation. This applies not just to the 248 commands, but also to the different subjects of Torah study. One cannot compare the study of Scripture to the study of Mishneh, or Gemara, or Halacha, or Agada. Each one of these fields of study draws down a very specific quality and quantity of G-dly revelation that is unique only to it. It is regarding this that Scripture states, “and you shall walk in the statutes,” as it is coming to teach us the one should not be satisfied with remaining on a single level of service of G-d, and that he should rather constantly be walking and going from one level to the next. Even if he feels sustained and refined with his current level of divine service, nonetheless, he must continue moving in the service of G-d through expanding his Torah study and Mitzvah fulfillment to as many subjects as possible.

• The Divine lesson: One should not suffice with quenching his thirst for Torah study with the study of only one specific subject in Judaism. Even if one’s main focus of study is a specific subject, he should also incorporate the study of other subjects. For example, in today’s yeshiva system the main emphasis is placed on the study of Talmud which often leaves the fields of Jewish law, and Tanach with little time to study. Regarding Tanach, some do not study it at all, and hence we find a strange phenomenon amongst yeshiva students, that even amongst those who are considered[1] scholars and are advanced in their Talmudic studies may be completely ignorant in the basic information recorded in Tanach. Furthermore, even in the field of Jewish law which is studied daily in Yeshivas, it is often not studied for enough time, or in the correct manner, to gain a true mastery of the subject. Certainly, those who don’t study the inner dimensions of the Torah, such as Kabbalah or Chassidus, are lacking a major section of Torah. Any section of Torah that one is missing from his study curriculum, means that he will also be missing the divine revelation that is affected through that subject of study. In the world to come where one will receive the reward for his work, he will have limited qualities of G-dly experience in accordance to the subjects of study that he toiled in. Every person prepares many various dishes and delicacies for the Shabbos meal and does not suffice with merely bread and a single dish. The same attitude should be applied regarding the World to Come which is the eternal Shabbos, that one should ascertain that he will be able to eat from many dishes of spiritual experience from the light of G-d, and not suffice with only one food on the menu. On this note, the Rebbe[2] once stated after the passing of a certain Lithuanian Torah giant, that while certainly the Torah giants soul is enjoying the basking in G-dliness from the revealed Torah that he studied in this world to a level much greater than anyone of his contemporaries, nonetheless, he is jealous of the pleasure that he sees others receiving from their study of the inner dimensions of the Torah, which he shunned. It is regarding this that the sages state that in the future era, every righteous man will be jealous of the canopy of his fellow colleague, as everyone will receive a unique type of pleasure from G-d in accordance to his divine service. Our job is to try to make sure that we do not omit any subject of Torah from being studied, and do not pass by any mitzvah that we can fulfill.

[1] A letter of the Rebbe Rayatz on the importance of studying Tanach: To the directorship of the Yeshiva Tomchei Temimim, it is very painful that even the LD students do not have any knowledge in Scripture, and majority of them do not even know Chumash with Rashi. They have no comprehension of the Nevi’im or Kesuvim. To see this strange phenomenon for yourself, all you have to do is have one of the members of the staff ask the students to translate a certain verse in Scripture or describe a certain event in the prophets. It is a shame for a yeshiva student to not know Tanach with the meaning of the words. The Chassidim, even the mediocre ones, were experts in Tanach and they had a set Seder to study it each day after studying their lesson of Mishnayos after the morning prayers. They would do their daily study of Tanakh while they were folding their Tallis and tefillin in a way that they would finish the entire Tanach in a three-month span. [Igros Kodesh 6:151]

[2] See Toras Menachem 5716 Purim