וידבר העם באלקים ובמשה…(חקת כא:ה)

Reish Lakish says:  אמר ריש לקיש מנין שאין דברי תורה מתקיימין אלא במי שממית עצמו עליה שנאמר זאת התורה אדם כי ימות באהל (ברכות סג – From where do we know that the words of the Torah are not fulfilled unless one commits his whole being to them? From the words זאת התורה אדם כי ימות באהל.

The holy Boruch Taam’s zt’’l vision was limited when he became elderly.  He said: “Chazal say that “אין התורה מתקיימת אלא במי שממית עצמו עליה” – the Torah is only fulfilled by those who sacrificed for it, therefore he was happy that he could fractionally fulfill this command since “סומא חשוב כמת” –  a blind person is considered dead, and since his vision was poor, it was deemed that he toiled to learn Torah when he was already elderly.

Reb Shlome of Bobov z”tl related that when his grandfather, the Borch Taam, was a young child, he used to sit and learn in the Beis Medrash day and night, and his shamash (assistant) would prepare a candle that burned for ten hours.  However, the Boruch Taam used to gather twigs and light them on fire so he could study longer.  The wood’s smoke damaged his eyes, and therefore, his vision failed as he became older.