RAV KOOK ON Chukat Part 1: Even in the Hour of Death

“This is the Torah law: when a person dies in a tent ....” (Num. 19:14) This verse introduces the laws of impurity connected to death. But the Sages derived from here an important lesson about the essence of Torah: “Rabbi Yonatan said: One should never abstain from attending the Beit Midrash [the house of study] and from Torah — even in the hour of death. As it says, “This is the Torah: when a person dies in a tent.” Even in the hour of death, one should be engaged in Torah study.” (Shabbat 83b) Why did the Sages teach that one should study Torah in all situations — even on one’s deathbed?