The Chafetz Chaim writes:
“This is the Torah: when a person dies in a tent…” (Numbers 19:14)
Our Sages in Berachot 63b state: “The words of Torah only endure in someone who puts himself to death over them.” But this is puzzling—doesn’t it say, “And you shall live by them” (Leviticus 18:5), and not that one should die by them?
Let us explain with a parable:
There was once a wealthy merchant to whom buyers came not only from his city but from neighboring towns as well. He was so busy with his trade that he had no time to go to the synagogue to pray with the congregation. Day and night, he was occupied with his business.
As the years passed, his hair turned white and his strength began to wane. He realized that he was approaching the end of his life and would soon need to give an account for his deeds. So, he decided to prepare for his journey to the next world. He began to go to the synagogue to pray with the congregation and then spent two hours studying Torah after the prayer service. No longer would he concern himself with his business, for he realized that all the commerce in the world was futile and would not benefit him after his passing.
When he returned to his business after spending three hours at the synagogue, his wife asked in astonishment why he was late, noting that the shop was full of customers who were in a hurry to leave. He replied that he was preoccupied and had to delay.
The next day, after the morning had passed and her husband still had not returned from the synagogue, the wife went to see what had happened. To her shock, she found him sitting and learning Torah.
She began to shout at him, “What’s wrong with you? Have you lost your mind or gone mad? The shop is full of customers, and you’re sitting here learning! I don’t care about the loss you’re causing us, but how can you drive customers away from the shop when competitors are all around us?”
Her husband answered her, saying, “Listen, my dear, pure one. What would you do if the Angel of Death came to me and said, ‘Your time has come to depart from this world; get up and go!’ Could you tell him that I have no time now because the shop is full of customers?
If so, you can consider that I am now dead. And what does it matter to you if, in two hours, I ‘come back to life’ and go to the shop to help you?”
This is the meaning of the saying: “The words of Torah only endure in someone who puts himself to death over them.” A person must consider himself as if he were dead, and to this, there is no response that “his time is not free.” If he thinks this way, he will be able to study and fulfill the Torah, which gives life to those who learn it and practice it.