Avot140

4:
If the first element in the teaching of Rabbi Yosé, which we studied in the previous shiur, has connected with the impulse to acquire and maintain property, the second element is concerned with the acquisition of Torah. Rabbi Yosé again makes a remark which at first reading appears trite. Basically what he is saying is that we have to make an effort to learn Torah, that it is not something that will come naturally. Is it not obvious that, like any other knowledge discipline, Torah learning will only come to him or her who make the effort?

5:
Real Torah knowledge cannot be acquired "accidentally" or by a kind of osmosis. Family background will certainly encourage a propensity to study, but it cannot guarantee success in studies. Many are the sages whose father was also a sage: Rabbi Yosé ben-Ĥalafta immediately comes to mind as does, of course, Rabbi himself, being the son of Rabban Shim'on ben-Gamli'el; and one could name many more. But these great sages did not absorb their Torah knowledge cum lacte, as the Romans were wont to say: their Torah erudition was not absorbed with their mother's milk. However, many, many more were the sages who had to start from scratch. Not only did many of them not come from a family background of Torah but in many cases the family background was decidedly antagonistic to their desire to learn Torah. We mentioned, for example, the privations that Rabbi Eli'ezer had to undergo before he became a Torah sage (see Avot 126).

6:
Even more well-known is the origins of Rabbi Akiva, that he was an ignorant, illiterate shepherd until Rachel perceived the mind that lay hidden behind that ignorance and married him on condition that he become literate and study Torah. Coming to learning when already an adult it was very difficult for him and he found that he could not even master the letters of the alphabet. We are told [Avot de-Rabbi Natan 6:2] that one day, in utter despair, he sat down beside a well and, having the perspicacious mind that Rachel had so magnificently perceived, he asked himself how it was that there were ridges in the stones by the water. It was explained to him that the water, running over the stones, constantly, year after year, had gradually worn a channel into the stone. He immediately drew a conclusion for himself: if water can wear down stone surely Torah can make some entry into my thick head! Re-heartened he went with his little son to the children's teacher. They both sat down before the teacher, father and infant son together. "Teach us," said Akiva to the teacher, and he sat there, holding the slate together with his son on which they learned to inscribe the alphabet.

7:
The fact that people who have little or no background in Torah learning have to make a decided effort to master the discipline is seen, quite logically, by Rabbi Ovadya of Bertinoro as being obvious. That is probably the reason why, in his commentary on our present mishnah, he seems to assume that Rabbi Yosé must be referring to people who have grown up in a Torah-saturated atmosphere:

8:
There is a verse [Isaiah 59:21] in which Israel is promised:

In the Gemara [Bava Metzi'a 85a] this verse is quoted as assuring Israel that Torah will continue to reside among the descendents of a sage for ever. However, it is well known that this is not always the case. That is why one sage adds the rider that the promise is only kept "if they prepare themselves to learn Torah".

To be continued.

In Avot 136, responding to a query, I wrote that Rambam held that the duty to pray is a Torah command. Jacob Chinitz writes:

I am surprised by your statement that Rambam holds that Tefilah is Deoraita. What is your source for that?

I respond:

Mishneh Torah, Tefillah 1:1, where Rambam says most succinctly:

See also "Sefer ha-Mitzvot" where it is listed as positive commandment #5.