You shall instruct the Israelites to bring you clear oil of pressed olives for lighting, for kindling lamps regularly. (Shemos 27:20)

The Torah tells us that to make the oil for the Menorah, it has to be pressed. Many of us are familiar with the idea that the oil used for the Menorah must only be the first drop of the pressing. The idea behind this “first drop” is that this oil is the purest of the pure. However, the mefarshim tell us there are those who produce olive oil by grinding and pressing the olives, and then straining the mush to produce perfectly clear oil. So, if both methods result in equally clear and pure oil, why does it matter which process is used?

The truth of the matter is that even though the results may appear similar, we understand that they are not exactly the same. Similarly, when driving to a new and unfamiliar destination, most people today will turn on WAZE and follow the instructions blindly. However, there are still people who will study a map, determine which route to take, and then follow that route. Obviously, the person who studied the map will more quickly become familiar with the route and get to the point where he can navigate this drive on his own, compared to the person who follows WAZE each time.

A similar comparison can be made with a child who is sitting in the front passenger seat with a map (before WAZE) and directing the parent who is driving. The driver will learn the road faster than the navigator, for the hands-on experience trumps text-book learning.

There are also different approaches to learning from a textbook. There are those who learn the subject matter throughout the semester, study as recommended, and do well on the final test. Then there are others who goof off the entire semester, and a day or so before the final they “burn the midnight oil” and cram in all the subject matter. Not only can these people do well on the final test, but they can sometimes even get a higher grade than the diligent student. However, the long-term retention of the diligent student is usually far superior to that of the student who crammed in a semester of learning in one night. Cramming the material does not bring about the same long-term results as letting it develop naturally.

I have heard Roshei Yeshiva trying to encourage the students in the beginning of their last year in Yeshiva Ketanah. They warn the students that they are going to be tested by the Rosh Yeshiva of the Yeshiva Gedolah they would like to attend, and even if they know the material that they are being tested on perfectly, the veteran Rosh Yeshiva will be able to tell whether the candidate learned just these particular pages (albeit) diligently, or if the candidate has a strong background in learning gemora in general.

The Menorah symbolizes Torah and the oil represents the learning itself; The purer the learning is, without needing to remove impurities, the greater the person becomes. The gemora tells us about a Tana who performed a plethora of tasks on his own, beginning with planting flax and shearing sheep, in order to produce books from which to study. Reb Chaim Shmulevitz tells us that since each step in the production of these books was pure, any learning from these books would also be pure and produce greater success in the students. A similar concept is found in the Igros Moshe (Orach Chaim 2:17), but at the other extreme: Reb Moshe suggests that if a Jew uses a siddur that was printed on Shabbos by a Jewish-owned publisher, it is possible that the prayers said from this book would be invalid! (He doesn’t take the final step to make it an unequivocal ruling, but he is quite certain that this is correct.) Today there are many products sold with a certification that they were not made on Shabbos – we can now begin to understand why this is so important.

Actions which are done in a pure environment will have a greater power of spiritual achievement. May we merit not only to learn Torah and execute the mitzvos, but also to do them in a way that will give them the ultimate potency.