The sefer / Part I / Torah 214
בדורות הראשונים כשהיו יודעים יום מיתתם
No shiur on this Torah yet. R’ Moshe’s shiurim so far cover Torahs 1–34.
English translation by Moshe Mykoff © Breslov Research Institute, from Sefaria, licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.
In earlier generations, when people knew their day of death, they would occupy themselves with Torah the entire day and Satan would have no rule over them. Yet, nowadays, we find that people die while in the midst of studying.
Know! that if the study is proper, then [Satan] certainly has no power [to harm the person]. However, if the study is improper, particularly the study of Talmud—if the study is improper, then [Satan] receives extra strength from it. This is because TaLMUD has the same numerical value as the letters of her name, LYLYT (Lilith). Therefore, the study of Talmud has the potential to either subjugate her or [do] the opposite, God forbid.