birchas haTorah

The gemara darshens from the pasuk  כִּ֛י שֵׁ֥ם הֹ׳ אֶקְרָ֑א הָב֥וּ גֹ֖דֶל לֵאלֹקינוּ that there is a chiyuv to say birchas haTorah.  (Why does the pasuk use the word הָב֥וּ, which is Aramaic, instead of the Hebrew תנו?  Chazal tell us that the angels do not understand Aramaic.  [see this post]  The Ishbitzer in Ne'os Deshe explains that when there is כִּ֛י שֵׁ֥ם הֹ׳ אֶקְרָ֑א, you can approach Hashem without the need for the intermediary of malachim.)

Bnei Yisrael had been learning Torah for 40 years in the desert.  Why tell us now that there is a din to say a bracha? 

You could answer the question using the chiddush of the Brisker Rav that birchas haTorah is on the cheftza shel Torah, not on the chovas ha'gavra to learn (see Emek Bracha).  Even though the Mechaber paskens that women cannot say a bracha on mitzvos they are not obligated in, the Mechaber paskens that they do say a birchas haTorah because it has nothing to do with the person's obligation to learn, it has to do with the fact that there is a Torah text being studied.  Therefore, until last week's parsha where Moshe received the mitzvah of kesivas sefer Torah and wrote a sefer, there was no text that existed.  It's only now, in our parsha, that there is a cheftza shel Torah to say a bracha on.

Al derech machshava, you can maybe say something more.

 יַעֲרֹ֤ף כַּמָּטָר֙ לִקְחִ֔י  The word כַּמָּטָר֙ written with a 'patach' under the כַּ , which means grammatically it's like there is a ה הידיעה there, it's a definite article.  We're not just talking about any dew, but rather THE dew, something specific.  What specific dew is the Torah being compared to?

In a few short weeks we will be reading Braishis where the Torah tells us (2:5) וְכֹ֣ל׀ שִׂ֣יחַ הַשָּׂדֶ֗ה טֶ֚רֶם יִֽהְיֶ֣ה בָאָ֔רֶץ וְכׇל־עֵ֥שֶׂב הַשָּׂדֶ֖ה טֶ֣רֶם יִצְמָ֑ח כִּי֩ לֹ֨א הִמְטִ֜יר הֹ׳ אֱלֹקים֙ עַל־הָאָ֔רֶץ וְאָדָ֣ם אַ֔יִן לַֽעֲבֹ֖ד אֶת־הָֽאֲדָמָֽה׃ -- the dew had not fallen because man was not yet created to work the ground.  Rashi explains:

כי לא המטיר – ומהג טעם לא המטיר? לפי שאדם אין לעבוד,ד ואין מכיר בטובתן של גשמים. וכשבא אדם וידע שצורך הם לעולם, התפלל עליהם וירדו, וצמחו האילנות והדשאים.

Maharal in Gur Aryeh formulates it even more sharply: ואין מכיר בטובתם. כלומר, ואסור לעשות טובה לאיש שאין מכיר בטובה, ולפיכך כל זמן שלא היה האדם - לא המטיר

You are not allowed to do a tovah for someone who will not appreciate it, who does not feel a need for it.  

Until there was a human being who could appreciate the need for dew and rain, G-d did not provide dew and rain.  Only once man was created and could daven and ask G-d for help did the dew fall.

Explains the Shem m'Shmuel: For 40 years there was שׁכינה מדבּרת מתוך גורנו שׁל משׁה, it was like mattan Torah every day because G-d spoke through Moshe's mouth.  Ramban writes in Ki Tisa that the Mishkan was like a mini Har Sinai where the process of revelation continued.

That's not the norm.  Mattan Torah was a one time in history unique experience.  For the rest of time, Torah is meant to be acquired through toil and effort, not received as a gift.  לִקְחִ֔י, like כִּי לֶַֿקח טוֹב נָתַֿ תִּי לָכֶם, means you have to do something to make a kinyan, not passively accept what is handed to you.   כּי יקח אישׁ אישׁה Ran in Nedarim 29 writes that the baal has to be the one to make the kinyan kiddushin but the woman's role is to be passive, to make herself like hefker.  

That's the change Moshe is preparing the people for. יַעֲרֹ֤ף כַּמָּטָר֙ לִקְחִ֔י Don't expect G-d to serve up Torah on a silver platter.  It's like THE dew, the dew of creation, that will only come to those who recognize the need for it, those who ask for it, those who are prepared לַֽעֲבֹ֖ד אֶת־הָֽאֲדָמָֽה׃, to work for it.  

As Rashi on Braishis writes כשבא אדם וידע שצורך הם לעולם, התפלל עליהם וירדו.  That's birchas haTorah.

Motzei Y"K at Yeshiva in Sderot: