The Talmud (Bava Metziah 62A) cites a famous legal-moral debate. Two individuals are in a perilous situation in a desert: one has a supply of water that is sufficient to sustain one person and enable him to reach civilization, but they will both die if he shares it. Ben P'turah opines that the owner is to share his water and "not witness the death of his comrade." Let the owner die with him if necessary, but he should not withhold the source of life from his friend. Rabbi Akiva rules that the owner of the water must drink the water himself, as his life takes precedence over the next one. He bases this on a verse from Parshas Behar, (Vayikra 25:36) "V'chai achicha imach - let your brother live with you"; the "with you" teaching of the verse compels the owner to save himself first.
The Chasam Sofer in his work Toras Moshe asks the following question: the passuk says (Vayikra 9:18): "v'ahavta l'reiacha komocha - you shall love your fellow as yourself", to which Rashi adds the teaching of Rabbi Akiva that this verse is a "Klal gadol baTorah" a major principle of Torah. Are not the two teachings of Rabbi Akiva contradicting one another? The first Torah directive taught that each man comes first before his fellow, and the latter teaches they are of equal status. The answer, says Chasam Sofer, lies in the word "baTorah." Rabbi Akiva teaches that in the realm of the physical, man is obligated to save himself first. However, in the spiritual realm he is to treat the next one as oneself.
This dictates that one is obligated to interrupt his own mitzvah of talmud Torah to teach and share Torah with others. Rabbi Akiva was especially sensitive to this point. The Talmud (Yevamos 62B) teaches that 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva died during the weeks between Pesach and Shavuos because they were not respectful to one another. I was always troubled by this lack of respect. Could it be for not holding the door, or saying "Good Morning", they warranted such Divine wrath? The Medrash (Koheles Rabbah 11: 6) clarifies their character flaw. Rabbi Akiva was privileged, according to the medrash, to start again in the dusk of his life with seven students. He told them to beware not to emulate the negative nature of his former students who were tzarei ayin (selfish) in their study of Torah, not sharing with one another what each had individually received from their master and teacher.
Torah that is not shared is not genuine Torah. The Rav Yosef Karo rules in Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 47:4) that one is not to study Torah prior to reciting the blessings of Torah. However, hirhur - thinking about, meditating over Torah thoughts is permissible, as in that state it cannot be shared. This is in contrast to writing Torah, as taught in 47:2, which requires the prior blessings as the written word can be shared.
It is thus understandable why these potential leaders and transmitters of Torah, the students of Rabbi Akiva, received deadly punishment, as they negated the teaching (Mishlei 4:22) "for Torah is life to those who find them." Their withholding Torah from one another was akin to the withholding of spiritual life and growth, and thus they received Divine retribution measure for measure.
The Talmud (Sukkah 49B) commenting on the well-known verse (Mishlei 31:26) "she opens her mouth with wisdom and the Torah of kindness is upon her tongue", asks: is there a Torah of kindness and a Torah that is devoid of kindness? The Talmud answers that Torah that is studied with the intention of teaching it to others is the Torah of kindness. However, Torah that is studied without the intention of sharing it with others is considered a Torah bereft of kindness.
Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai taught (Avos 2:8), "if you have studied much Torah, do not take credit for yourself- al tachzik tovah l'atzmecha- because that was what you were created to do". The Medrash Shmuel, citing the Lev Avos, explains "al tachzik tovah"to mean "don't hoard the good (Torah) for yourself." One who has Torah knowledge must share it with others. Our rabbis teach on the verse in (Iyov 5:7) "man is born for toil- l'amel yulad" which is understood to mean "lilmod al menas l'lamed", to study in order to teach.
Lest one fear that by sharing with others they will lose out in terms of their personal potential growth, the Chasam Sofer has a most novel intriguing comment regarding Avraham Avinu and his receiving prophecy. Prior to Hashem informing him of the impending destruction of Sedom, the Torah allows us to be privy to Hashem's deliberation as to whether he should share this with Avraham. The Chasam Sofer explains that Hashem decides to award Avraham the prophecy in Bereishis (18:19) not for Avraham's self development, but rather because He realized that Avraham has been engaged in kiruv, by teaching charity and justice to multitudes of students, at the expense of his own personal growth. Indeed many rabbis and teachers have been privileged to share in this blessing of Avraham, and despite their primary focus being on the building of community and students, they have merited Divine providence in their own religious growth.
Finally, let us not forget Rav Preida. The Talmud (Eruvin 54b) tells us that he had a student to whom he would have to repeat each lesson four hundred times before the student understood it. One day the teacher had to leave to attend to a mitzvah. Before leaving, he taught his student the usual four hundred times, but he still did not grasp the lesson. When asked why he did not grasp the lesson, the talmid explained that since he knew Rav Preida was leaving, his attention was distracted because he was fearful that at any moment his Rebbe would leave. Rav Preida then taught him another four hundred times, and a Bas Kol (Heavenly Voice) asked, "Rav Preida, do you prefer that four hundred years be added to your life, or that you and your generation merit the life of the world to come?" Rav Preida chose the latter, and in reward for his selflessness Hashem gave him both!
May we be privileged to implement v'ahavta l'reiacha ka-mocha, zeh klal gadol baTorah.