The Talmud on Studying Torah out of Love

b. Nedarim 62a

[It] is taught [in a baraita: The verse states]: To love the Lord your God, to listen to His voice, and to cleave to Him (Deuteronomy 30:20). [This verse indicates] that a person should not say: I will read [the written Torah] so that they will call me a sage; I will study [Mishnah] so that they will call me rabbi; I will review [my studies] so that I will be an elder and will sit in the academy.

Rather, learn out of love, [as the verse states: To love the Lord your God]. And the honor will eventually come [of its own accord], as it is stated: Bind them upon your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart (Proverbs 7:3), and it states: Its ways are ways of pleasantness, [and all its paths are peace] (Proverbs 3:17), and it states: It is a tree of life to those who grasp it; happy is everyone who holds it fast (Proverbs 3:17). [Consequently, one who studies in order to master Torah for its own sake, as reflected in the verse bind them upon your fingers, will eventually merit pleasantness, peace, and happiness.]

b. Yoma 35b

The sages taught: A poor [person], and a wealthy [person], and a wicked [person] come to [face] judgment [before the heavenly court for their conduct in this world]. To the poor [person, the members of the court] say: Why did you not engage in Torah? If he [rationalizes his conduct] and says: I was poor and preoccupied with [earning enough to pay for] my sustenance [and that is why I did not engage in Torah study], they say to him: Were you any poorer than Hillel [who was wretchedly poor and nevertheless attempted to study Torah]?

They said about Hillel the Elder that each and every day he would work and earn a half-dinar, half of which he would give to the guard of the study hall and half of which [he spent] for his sustenance and the sustenance of the members of his family. One time he did not find [employment] to earn [a wage], and the guard of the study hall did not allow him to enter. He ascended [to the roof], suspended [himself], and sat at the edge of the skylight in order to hear the words [of the Torah] of the living God from the mouths of Shemaya and Avtalyon [the spiritual leaders of that generation].

[The sages continued and] said: That day was Shabbat eve, and it was the [winter] season of Tevet, and snow fell upon him from the sky. When it was dawn, Shemaya said to Avtalyon: Avtalyon, my brother, every day [at this hour] the [study] hall [is already] bright [from the sunlight streaming through the skylight], and today it is dark; is it perhaps a cloudy day? They focused their eyes and saw the image of a man in the skylight. They ascended and found him [covered with] snow three cubits high. They extricated him [from the snow], and they washed him and smeared [oil] on him, and they sat him opposite the bonfire [to warm him]. They said: This [man] is worthy [for us] to desecrate Shabbat for him. [Saving a life overrides Shabbat in any case; however, this great man is especially deserving. Clearly, poverty is no excuse for the failure to attempt to study Torah.]