Prayer Chapter 1 \ The Order of Beginning Education - Part 5

...of blessed memory: "Do not read shoshanim (roses) but rather sesonim (rejoicing), and do not read mor over (flowing myrrh) but rather mar over (bitter/awe-inspiring), for a student must stand in awe and reverence before the Rav."

[As brought in the Zohar, Parashas Pinchas 218b-219a: I asked Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, "What is the reason that all the nations of the world do not sway, but only Israel alone, that when they delve into the Torah, they sway here and there, without anyone in the world teaching them to do so, and they are unable to stand still in their place?" He said to me, "You have reminded me of an exalted matter, which the people of the world do not know and do not pay attention to." He sat for a moment and wept. He said, "Woe to the people who walk about like beasts of the field, without understanding. By this matter alone, the holy souls of Israel are distinguished from the souls of the nations who worship stars and constellations. The souls of Israel are carved from the holy burning lamp, as it is written: 'The soul of man is the lamp of Hashem' (Mishlei 20:27). And this lamp, at the moment it is kindled from the supernal Torah, its light does not rest upon it for even a moment. And the secret of this is, 'O God, do not keep silent [lit. do not have rest]' (Tehillim 83:2). Similarly, it is written: 'You who remind Hashem, take no rest for yourselves' (Yeshayahu 62:6) - you shall have no rest. The light of a lamp, once it takes hold of the wick, that light never rests; rather, the light sways here and there, and never remains still. In this exact way, Israel, whose souls are drawn from that light of the lamp, as soon as they say a single word of Torah, behold, the light is kindled, and they cannot...