Blessed are You, Adonoy our God, King of the Universe, Who sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to be engrossed in the words of Torah.

Adonoy our God, please make the words of Your Torah pleasant in our mouths and in the mouths of Your people Israel. And may we and our descendants [and the descendants of our descendants] and the descendants of Your people the House of Israel, all know Your Name and be students of Your Torah for its own sake. Blessed are You, Adonoy Who teaches Torah to His people, Israel.

Blessed are You, Adonoy our God, King of the Universe Who chose us from among all the peoples and gave us His Torah. Blessed are You, Adonoy, Giver of the Torah!

May Adonoy bless you and guard you. May Adonoy shine His countenance upon you and be gracious unto you. May Adonoy turn His countenance toward you and grant you peace.

These are precepts for which no fixed measure is prescribed: [leaving] the corner [of a field unharvested], [the offering of] the first fruits, the appearance-offering, [performing] deeds of kindness, and the study of Torah. These are precepts, the fruits of which man enjoys in this world, [while] the principal [reward] is preserved for him in the World-to-Come. They are: honoring father and mother, [performing] deeds of kindness, early attendance in the House of Study morning and evening, providing hospitality to guests, visiting the sick, participating in making a wedding, accompanying the dead [to the grave], concentrating on the meaning of prayers, making peace between fellow men and between husband and wife— and the study of Torah is equal to them all.

The blessing: An abounding love, is about God’s love for us and includes praise for God giving us the Torah. Therefore, Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: One who arose to study, until he recites Shema, he must recite a special blessing over the Torah. If he already recited Shema he need not recite that blessing, as he has exempted himself by reciting the blessing of: An abounding love (אהבה רבה), which includes the components of the blessing over the Torah.

Having mentioned the blessing recited over Torah, the Gemara focuses on a dispute over what constitutes Torah in terms of requiring a blessing.Rav Huna said: For the study of Bible, one must recite a blessing, as it is the word of God, and for halakhic midrash, the derivation of halakhot from verses, one need not recite a blessing. And Rabbi Elazar said: For Bible and midrash, which includes halakhot derived from verses themselves, one must recite a blessing; for Mishna, which is only comprised of halakhic rulings issued by the Sages, one need not recite a blessing.And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Even for Mishna, which includes final, binding halakhic rulings, one must recite a blessing as well, but for Talmud, which comprises a study of the Mishna and the rationales for its rulings, one need not recite a blessing.And Rava said: Even for Talmud, which is the means to analyze the significance of the halakhot, and is the only form of Torah study that leads one to its true meaning, one must recite a blessing.

This statement is supported by the practical halakha derived from observation of Rav’s practice. His student, Rav Ḥiyya bar Ashi, said: Many times I stood before Rav to study our chapter in the Sifra, also known as Torat Kohanim, the halakhic midrash on Leviticus, of the school of Rav, and I saw that Rav would first wash his hands, then recite a blessing, and only then he would teach us our chapter. This demonstrates that even before their study of Torat Kohanim, which, due to Rav’s explanation of the reasons behind the halakhot, was the equivalent of studying Talmud, one must recite a blessing.

The Gemara clarifies: What formula of blessings does he recite? There is a dispute over the formula of the blessings as well.

Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: The formula of this blessing is like the standard formula for blessings recited over other mitzvot: Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who sanctified us with his mitzvot and commanded us to engage in matters of Torah. And Rabbi Yoḥanan concludes the blessing by adding the following: Lord our God, make the words of Your Torah sweet in our mouths and in the mouths of Your people, the house of Israel, so that we and our descendants and the descendants of Your people, the house of Israel, may be those who know Your name and engage in Your Torah. Blessed are You, Lord, Who teaches Torah to His people Israel. And Rav Hamnuna said an additional formula: Who has chosen us from all the peoples and given us His Torah. Blessed are You, Lord, Giver of the Torah.

With regard to this formula, Rav Hamnuna said: This concise blessing is the most outstanding of all the blessings over the Torah, as it combines thanks to God for giving us the Torah as well as acclaim for the Torah and for Israel. Since several formulas for the blessing over Torah were suggested, each with its own distinct advantage, the Gemara concludes: Therefore, let us recite them all as blessings over the Torah.

Regarding the Torah-study blessing, [I asked in my dream] whether one needs to recite the blessing each and every time one sits to study, as in the case of Tefillin, where one says the blessing each time they are worn; or whether one need not recite the blessing, and the blessing recited as part of the morning prayers covers all acts of study throughout the day.

They responded: "The glory of God, conceal the matter," (Psalms 25:2) "And all who bless are blessed" (Sotah 38b) "By the true God." (Isaiah 65:16).

I was unsure of the meaning of this response, so I asked my question again.

They responded: the blessing for Torah-study is different to that of other commandments. Since enjoyment of the Torah is constantly part of human life, it was endowed with three separate blessings - "La'asok," "Veha'arev," and "Asher Bachar".

The blessing of "La'asok" relates to the commandment; that of "Veha'arev" is a prayer that we merit to learn and teach, while "Asher Bachar" is a blessing of thanksgiving, since all Israel is required to give thanks to God who chose them from among the nations and gave them the Torah.

There were also two blessings instituted before the recitation of the Shema, in the morning and in the evening, whose essence is also about enjoyment of the Torah.

Other blessings however have a short formulation, and they are recited each time after an interruption in the action they refer to. This explains the blessing instituted in honour of the Torah reading in the synagogue, which is "Asher Bachar", and the sages didn't require us to recite the blessing "La'asok" on fulfilling a commandment, or the blessing "Veha'arev," which is a prayer. And since it is in the form of a prayer, all three were instituted as part of the morning prayers.

(1)2. In addition, it is good to turn the Torah into prayer. That is, when one studies or hears some Torah discourse from the genuine tzaddik, he should make it into a prayer. He should beseech God and plead with Him concerning each point mentioned in the discourse: When will he, too, be worthy of all this? How distant he is from it! And he should ask God to make him worthy of achieving all that is mentioned in the discourse.

(2) The wise person who desires truth, God will lead on the path of truth. And, understanding on his own one thing from another, [he will know] how to put this into practice in such a way that his words will evoke favor and be well-argued, placating God so that He will draw him closer to genuine Divine worship.

(3) This manner of conversation rises to a very high place, especially when one turns Torah into prayer, which results in very great delight on high.