Before us are the words of the Zera Shimshon on Shir HaShirim, Chapter 15 (p. 168), which center entirely around one verse - "The mandrakes gave forth fragrance." From a brief Midrash in the Yalkut on the partnership between Yissachar and Zevulun, the author opens an entire portal into the subject of the reward of Torah supporters: what is fragrance, what is taste, what the supporter receives in this world, and what is preserved for him in the World to Come.
הַדּוּדָאִים נָתְנוּ רֵיחַ וְעַל פְּתָחֵינוּ כָּל מְגָדִים חֲדָשִׁים גַּם יְשָׁנִים דּוֹדִי צָפַנְתִּי לָךְ׃ (ז, יד) - "The mandrakes gave forth fragrance, and at our doors are all choice fruits, both new and old; my Beloved, I have treasured them for You." (7:14)
Midrash Yalkut (Shir HaShirim, Remez 993) expounds: "'The mandrakes gave forth fragrance' - this refers to Yissachar and Zevulun. Zevulun sits and engages in commerce and provides for Yissachar, and the Torah increases in Israel." And which mandrakes are being referred to here? Through the mandrakes - "Please give me some of your son's mandrakes," which Reuven brought - Yissachar was born. Thus, "The mandrakes gave forth fragrance" means that the one born as a result of the mandrakes, Yissachar, gave forth a sweet fragrance, and this fragrance expresses the partnership of Yissachar and Zevulun. Zevulun engages in trade - "Zevulun shall dwell by the seashore" - setting sail in his ships to trade and providing food for Yissachar so that Yissachar can engage in Torah study. And this is "gave forth fragrance": the fragrance of Torah, "and the Torah increases in Israel." The meaning is that Yissachar does not need to interrupt any part of his study time to earn a livelihood; rather, he goes straight to learning, and thus the Torah multiplies because Zevulun supports Yissachar.
One can also explain "the Torah increases in Israel" homiletically. It is well known that the poskim dispute regarding the Yissachar-Zevulun partnership whether what Zevulun receives is deducted from Yissachar's reward or not. Rav Ovadia Yosef wrote a very lengthy teshuva on this and concluded that just as "a candle for one is a candle for a hundred," both of them are given full and complete reward. And if the reward is essentially for Torah learning, it turns out that whereas before there was only one person studying Torah, now there are effectively two, since Zevulun is also considered a Torah learner - and through this, "the Torah increases in Israel."
A story is told concerning Rav Chaim of Volozhin. All the sages of his generation were uncertain about a question in the laws of shaatnez, when a simple tailor who had just passed away appeared to him in a dream, laid out the entire sugya before him, and revealed everything that was ruled on the matter in Heaven. Rav Chaim was astonished and said to him: "I did not know you were a great Torah scholar here in this world." The tailor replied: "No, I was a simple man." Rav Chaim asked: "Then from where do you know all this?" He answered: "Because I maintained a Yissachar-Zevulun agreement and supported an avrech who studied Torah, they taught me all of his Torah in Heaven." It is related that Rav Chaim of Volozhin said: "I knew that this was so, but I did not realize it happens so quickly - yesterday he passed away, and today he knows the entire Torah." We see from here that the Torah increases: previously there was only one person who knew Torah, and now there are two. When there are many supporters of Torah, the Torah multiplies, for they too have a share in the Torah.
Yet according to its plain meaning, as we explained, "the Torah increases in Israel" because Yissachar has more time to engage in Torah and does not need to pursue a livelihood. Here the Zera Shimshon asks: It requires examination - if the Torah truly increases in Israel because of the mandrakes, the verse should have said "gave forth taste." For in the Midrash on the verse "The fruit of a beautiful tree, palm branches..." (Vayikra 23:40), it states: "'The fruit of a beautiful tree' - just as the etrog has both taste and fragrance, so too among Israel there are those who possess both Torah and good deeds. 'Palm branches' - just as the date palm has taste but no fragrance, so too there are those who possess Torah but lack good deeds. 'And boughs of leafy trees' - just as the myrtle has fragrance but no taste, so too there are those who possess good deeds but lack Torah."
This entire Midrash is brought to prove one point: Torah is expressed through taste, not fragrance. In the etrog, one cannot yet discern what corresponds to Torah and what to good deeds; but from "palm branches" - which possess taste but no fragrance, corresponding to one who possesses Torah but lacks good deeds - it is proven that Torah is taste. Likewise from the myrtle, which has fragrance but no taste, corresponding to one who possesses good deeds but lacks Torah. Incidentally, among Yemenite Jews, when they want someone to deliver a d'var Torah, they say to him, "Give a taste" - taste is Torah. It follows that fragrance is a metaphor for good deeds, not for Torah. If so, why does the verse state, "The mandrakes gave forth fragrance," and the Midrash expounds that the Torah increases in Israel? It should have said, "The mandrakes gave forth taste."
A further difficulty arises: How does "The mandrakes gave forth fragrance" connect to "and at our doors are all choice fruits"? "Megadim" refers to choice kinds of fruit - what is the connection between the two?
This can be understood in light of what our Sages said (Kiddushin 39b): there is no reward for mitzvot in this world. It was previously explained in the name of Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz that "there is none" does not mean reward is withheld, but that it is impossible to receive. We simply lack the vessels to receive the reward of the World to Come, for it is an eternal, boundless, spiritual reward, and such reward cannot be contained in this physical world. It has been likened to a person who arrives with a small cup and asks for the entire Kinneret to be poured into it - you do not have the vessels to contain what you are asking for.
However, the Rav explains, one who benefits a talmid chacham with his possessions and supports those who learn Torah will certainly see his reward multiply even in this world, enjoying its fruits while the principal remains preserved for him in the World to Come. Not all of the reward - which cannot possibly be received here - but an advance "on account" is granted here as well. This reflects the teaching of Chazal on the verse, "Rejoice, Zevulun, in your going out, and Yissachar in your tents": Zevulun rejoices upon his departure from this world, while Yissachar rejoices in his tent as he sits immersed in Torah study. In the verse itself there is no explicit mention of reward in this world, but the commentaries cite Vayikra Rabbah, which states that he receives reward in this world while the principal remains stored for the World to Come; the Zohar likewise teaches that he merits blessings from Above and below. Indeed, this can be alluded to in the text itself, for "in your going out" carries a double meaning: rejoice, Zevulun, when going out to your labors, where you will see abundance and blessing; and rejoice, Zevulun, upon your departure from this world, as Chazal expound. Thus, both forms of reward are encompassed within the verse.
Someone once remarked playfully: Many people argue that yeshiva students should enter the workforce. But one could counter - if they were to enter the workforce, with their sharp minds they would capture all the premier positions, so you are far better off having them remain in the beit midrash. That is the inner meaning of "Rejoice, Zevulun, in your going out": Why should you rejoice when going out to work? Because Yissachar remains behind in the kollel to learn! For had he joined the workforce as well, you would be the one out of a job.
Now, the reward of the World to Come is fundamentally bound up with scent. As Chazal said, the reward of the righteous consists of "thirteen rivers of pure persimmon oil" - Rabbi Elazar ben Pedat was shown his future reward as thirteen rivers of balsam oil, the most exquisite of fragrances. Similarly, in the ninth chapter of Bava Metzia (114a), Rabbah bar Avuha spoke to Eliyahu HaNavi of his extreme poverty, whereupon Eliyahu brought him into Gan Eden and told him to gather some leaves. He gathered them and wrapped them in his cloak, but then heard a heavenly voice declare: "Who is this who consumes his world during his lifetime?" He immediately scattered the leaves and returned them, taking nothing. Yet when he returned to this world, his garment was so deeply saturated with the fragrance of those leaves that he sold it for twelve thousand dinars, using the proceeds to marry off his daughters. Here too, the reward of the World to Come found expression through scent.
It was once explained that the World to Come is expressed primarily through two senses: scent and sight. Sight as well, as in "Behold, this is our God, we have waited for Him," when the righteous stand and point toward the Holy One, Blessed be He, as He leads them in a circle dance. The Ben Ish Chai writes that the primary reward there is through sight, and therefore one who blemishes his eyes forfeits the essence of his reward in the World to Come, since the ultimate delight there is visionary. Why specifically these two? Because we have no capacity to define the reward of the World to Come: "No eye has seen it, God, aside from You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him." It cannot be described through physical pleasures of the flesh - unlike the claims of "the madman," as the Rambam refers to Muhammad, who promised his followers coarse physical indulgences, speaking down to their level in the spirit of "a wicked person knows the soul of his beast." But we, guided by an elevated truth, know that there are no bodily lusts or physical matters there; there is no eating, drinking, or sleeping. What is there, then? The Torah conveys to us the highest pleasure that can still be registered by our senses while remaining refined and spiritual - the pleasure of fragrance. Scent is not coarse; it involves no tangible touch, nor is it swallowed through the palate, but is something far purer and more spiritual. The same is true of sight. Both serve as parables for the sublime delights of the World to Come.
See earlier on the verse, "For the fragrance of your good oils," where a compelling reason is provided as to why the reward of the righteous is likened specifically to fragrance: it is taught that the Jewish people are consumed with anxious devotion for mitzvot. Consequently, the seed of an Israelite within the body of a gentile woman decays and emits a foul odor, whereas within the body of an Israelite woman it neither decays nor turns foul. That is, the body of an Israelite is heated, as it were, by the fervor of the mitzvot, and corresponding to this, their reward in the World to Come is a sweet fragrance.
Returning now to our subject: because Zevulun provides sustenance directly into the mouth of Yissachar and Torah study increases, they merit to partake of the fruits of that principal reward stored for the World to Come. The goodness they enjoyed was akin to the World to Come itself, and for this reason this goodness is designated as scent. This is the meaning of "the mandrakes give forth fragrance" - goodness akin to the World to Come. The verse purposefully avoids saying "they gave forth taste"; for while taste alludes to Torah study itself, we are speaking here not of ordinary worldly reward, but of the essence of the ultimate reward, which finds expression through fragrance.
One is compelled to say so, for all of Zevulun's commerce and trade took place overseas, as it is written, "He shall dwell by the shore of the seas," and from there he grew wealthy. Yet in the fourth chapter of Pesachim (50b), the Gemara teaches that money earned overseas does not contain a sign of blessing - because the funds are far from their owner, and seafaring vessels are constantly exposed to mortal peril from pirates, shipwrecks, and storms. How, then, did lasting blessing rest upon Zevulun? Rather, it must be that because this wealth derived from the goodness of the World to Come - by virtue of supporting Yissachar and earning eternal reward - it was infused with enduring blessing, and the evil eye had no power over it. While worldly gains are vulnerable to the evil eye, reward originating from the World to Come remains completely immune to it, and it is therefore compared specifically to fragrance.
There was an incident involving a certain kollel, apparently abroad, where a businessman came forward and offered to fund the entire institution. What prompted him? He explained: "I own a fleet of merchant ships, and every year I spend a fortune on maritime insurance - insuring a ship is not like insuring a car, it costs millions. Why should I pay them? The finest insurance policy is Torah." He told the rosh kollel, "I will redirect those funds to support the avreichim, and in turn you will immerse yourselves in learning; let this stand to my credit and serve as protection for the ships." One day, he received an urgent message that one of his vessels was in dire straits and actively taking on water, on the verge of sinking. It is told that he rushed straight to the kollel and declared, "Gentlemen, you are my insurance policy! If the ship is sinking, there must be a breach in the policy!" The scholars acknowledged, "You are right; lately there has been a certain laxity, and we have not been strictly punctual with the sedarim." They immediately resolved to redouble their diligence. Within twenty-four hours, word arrived that the vessel was out of danger; the crew had succeeded in pumping out the water, and the ship was saved. This illustrates the Rav's insight: an advance of the reward of the World to Come is granted here below, carrying divine blessing and shielded from every evil eye - whenever Zevulun loyally supports Yissachar.
And so that one should not say that his portion in the World to Come will be diminished - for we have seen cases where one takes his reward here in this world, like that story with the leaves - Scripture therefore added, "And at our doors are all kinds of choice fruits." That is, he will have all the delicacies in Gan Eden, concerning which it is written, "Open for me the gates of righteousness" (Tehillim 118:19), which is the gate to Hashem. And whoever gives donations to support the hands of Torah learners will merit the goodness of the World to Come, and at his doors will be all kinds of choice fruits, "both new and old" - meaning the donations a person has already made alongside those he makes anew, all stored up for him as treasures on High. And this is what is stated: "Your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of Hashem shall gather you" (Yeshayahu 58:8): his acts of charity go before him and await him there at the entrance to Gan Eden. Likewise, what he did long ago and has not yet received reward for - everything is stored away on High, and he will receive his complete reward in the World to Come.
Through this we can understand what the Midrash says on this verse: Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: You store up for Me, and I store up for you. You store up for Me through mitzvot and good deeds, and I store up for you storehouses filled with all the goodness in the world. Rabbi Abba bar Kahana [and Rabbi] Yudan said: But His are vastly greater than ours - the treasures that the Holy One, blessed be He, stores up for us are far greater than what we store up for Him. That is what is written: "How abundant is Your goodness that You have stored away for those who fear You, that You have wrought for those who take refuge in You" (Tehillim 31:20). "Storing up" (tzofnim) means guarding or preserving, as something hidden away (tzafun) is something preserved: you preserve mitzvot and good deeds for Me, and I preserve the reward for you.
A difficulty arises: What is Bar Yudan coming to teach us? It is obvious that the treasures of the Holy One, blessed be He, are far greater than what we do - would we ever have thought that what we do is greater than what Hashem gives? After all, the measure of goodness is vastly greater, and what do we even have? The entire world is His, and certainly what He has to give bears no comparison or resemblance to what we do. Why, then, is there a need to derive this from the verse, "How abundant is Your goodness"? It is truly astonishing.
One may explain this based on what is stated in the Midrash on the verse, "Who has preceded Me, that I should repay him?" (Iyov 41:3) - who gave charity before Me, before I provided him with money? These are the words of Iyov in chapter 41, and the Midrash enumerates: Who circumcised his son before I gave him a son? Who brought an offering before Me before I gave him a lamb? Who affixed a mezuzah before I gave him a house? Who built a parapet before I gave him a roof? And in the first chapter of Bava Batra (9b) we say: Rabbi Yitzchak said: What is the meaning of that which is written, "He who pursues charity and kindness shall find life, charity, and honor" (Mishlei 21:21)? Because he pursues charity, he will find charity? Is that a blessing, that he should become poor and receive charity? Rather, it comes to tell you that whoever pursues charity, the Holy One, blessed be He, provides him with money to perform charity. And Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak says: The Holy One, blessed be He, provides him with fitting people to give charity to, so that he may receive reward for them. Not a drug addict coming to take charity for his next fix, but a truly needy avrech searching for bread for his little ones so he can send his children to cheder - these are fitting poor people. Thus we learn that when a person performs an action, Heaven grants him the opportunity to perform further actions of that same kind.
Incidentally, a noteworthy point: the folio markings of the Gemara date only from recent generations. Among the Rishonim and early authorities, there were no folio markings at all; each scribe copied the Gemara in whatever format was convenient, and there was no standardized layout. From the Vilna edition, published by the Romm widow and brothers, a fixed layout was established, and ever since, whenever a particular daf is cited, it appears the same way for everyone. Someone once tried to alter this, but neither the change nor his edition of Shas endured. Even when Schottenstein published its commentary, they printed the standard daf repeatedly rather than rearranging the text of the Gemara. A man was once asked: "Did you learn all of Shas?" He replied: "Of course, I learned ten thousand pages!" They said to him: "There aren't ten thousand pages in Shas!" He answered: "I learned with Schottenstein..." Therefore, the earlier authorities always write "at the end of such-and-such chapter" or "at the beginning of such-and-such chapter," rather than page numbers. And this is the meaning of "in the first chapter of Batra," which might sound like a contradiction - but it refers to the first chapter of Masechet Bava Batra, on daf 9b.
Based on this, explains the Zera Shimshon, one might have thought that for the first act of charity a person performs, he would not receive such great reward, because the money was not truly his, having been given to him by the Omnipresent in the manner of "Who has preceded Me, that I should repay him?" To avoid being ungrateful before Him for giving it to him rather than to someone else, it was his simple duty and proper conduct to give charity from it. However, for subsequent charitable deeds, performed with money that is rightfully his and belongs genuinely to him rather than to another - because the Holy One, blessed be He, is, as it were, obligated to provide him with funds - his reward would be far greater.
To use a parable: If a father gave a child a bag of candies and told him to distribute them to his siblings, and he did so, what praise does he truly deserve? I gave you the candies specifically to distribute! But if the father gave him a bag of candies for himself, and the child went and shared them with his siblings, then he truly deserves praise. So too, one might have thought that for the first gift, which came from what Hashem gave him to distribute, his reward would be modest, whereas for subsequent charities, which come from funds that are already rightfully his, his reward would be abundant. Therefore the verse says: "both new and old" - both are equally for the good; "which I have stored up for you, my beloved" - for the Holy One, blessed be He, stores up the reward for both of them in equal measure.
All this follows the reasoning of Rabbi Abba, which aligns with the opinion of Rabbi Yitzchak in the first chapter of Bava Batra, that "he will find charity" means that the Holy One, blessed be He, will provide him with funds. That is, after a person gives charity with his money, Hashem provides him with more money. One might then have thought that these provided funds are already "owed" to him and earn him a complete reward, whereas for the initial funds - which were provided by Hashem - he would not. Therefore Scripture states, "new as well as old": both for what was originally given to him, as it were from Hashem's own hand, and for what he later gave from what is rightfully his - on both he will receive a complete reward.
However, Bar Yudan holds in accordance with the opinion of Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak, that the Holy One, blessed be He, provides him with worthy recipients. According to this, "He who pursues charity and lovingkindness shall find life, charity, and honor" means that he merits to give charity to worthy people. If so, "he shall find charity" is not only in the second charity, but already the very first time he gives - for already then, the Holy One, blessed be He, arranged worthy poor people for him. It turns out that both in the initial charity and in the subsequent ones, in all of them there is the share of the Holy One, blessed be He, who grants people the opportunity to gain merit. And this is the meaning of "and Hers is superior to ours" - that is, the share He grants is better for us than the money we merited in our initial charities. For regarding what we did, it is possible that we gave to an unworthy person, whereas what He did - arranging a worthy poor person for us - is far more powerful, for through it the mitzvah of charity is fulfilled with perfection. To be sure, there is reward even in giving charity to an unworthy poor person: only when both are flawed, where the giver does not intend for the sake of Heaven and the recipient is unworthy, does he receive no reward; but if he intended for the sake of Heaven, or if the poor person is worthy even though the giver lacked proper intent - there is reward. Nevertheless, when we intend for the sake of Heaven and Hashem arranges a worthy poor person for us, what Hashem did is superior to the initial charities.
And this is the meaning of "which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You" - it is not written "You gave," but "You have wrought," which teaches us that beyond the giving there is a need for actual action, an action involving human beings. That is, in addition to Hashem giving us the funds, He also provided us with a worthy poor person - and this is no simple matter. As the Gemara states in the fourth chapter of Sukkah: Lest you say that anyone who wishes to leap forward may leap, Scripture teaches, "How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God." Rashi explains: whenever someone comes to leap forward to perform charity, they provide him with worthy people. And what is so precious about this? After all, one could walk down the street and find endless needy people to give to! Rather, what is "precious" is that one should merit a worthy recipient - and this is rare and not easily found. Regarding this point it is said that what Hashem did for us is greater than what we did: we gave to someone who might not be worthy, yet He arranged worthy poor people for us, elevating the mitzvah into something far greater. This is "How abundant is Your goodness" - an immense kindness that Hashem performed with us in this very matter.
"The mandrakes yield a fragrance" refers to Yissachar and Zevulun. Zevulun provides for Yissachar and Torah multiplies in Israel. Scripture therefore uses the term fragrance rather than taste: although taste hints at Torah, the reward that the supporter receives in this world is a goodness akin to the World to Come, and the reward of the World to Come is compared to fragrance. For this reason, Zevulun's wealth from overseas commerce was blessed and the evil eye had no hold over it, since the evil eye cannot affect a reward that is not of this world. Furthermore, "at our doors are all choice fruits" comes to reassure the supporter that he need not fear his share in the Next World has been diminished: everything is hidden and preserved for him at the entrance to Gan Eden. "New as well as old" signifies both the initial donations he gave from what Hashem granted him and the subsequent ones he gave from what was already rightfully his - both are equally rewarded for good. In addition, we learned that the Holy One, blessed be He, not only provides a person with money for charity, but also arranges worthy poor people for him through whom the mitzvah is fulfilled in complete perfection. This is the meaning of "How abundant is Your goodness which You have hidden away for those who fear You, which You have wrought for those who take refuge in You."