“So now, write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel… (31:19)”

Chazal derive from this pasuk that each person is required to write a Sefer Torah for himself. Even if one inherited a Sefer Torah or received one as a gift, he is nevertheless still obligated to write one. Why is it so important for each individual to write his own Sefer Torah?

If a person who starts a business puts his whole heart and soul into it. He will stay up late at night and spend lots of money to make sure everything runs smoothly. If anyone makes a negative remark about his company, he will be the first one to stick up for it. For some reason he never gets sick and doesn’t need to take off. When he retires and passes the reigns over to his son, things just won’t be the same. His son will definitely do his job and may even work overtime, but he won’t put his whole heart and soul into it like his father did. After all, it’s not his own business. There is no comparison be-tween an employee and the founder of a company.

A person is obligated to write his own Sefer Torah because Hashem wants a person to feel the Torah is his own, and not a hand-me-down. Each individual is meant to become a CEO over the Torah, going to great lengths to make sure he ful-fills the Torah, and spending the time and effort to ensure that his “business” is running smoothly. If it was just a hand-me-down from someone else we would feel no real desire to do our best.

I give a Bracha that we all manage to make the Torah “our business” so we give it 110% and be the best we can be!

Shabbat Shalom