At the moment of birth, the angel leaves the child to begin his own journey in learning Torah

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lit candle, the ability to see from one end of the world to the other, and an angel teaching the fetus the entire Torah — these are the environs of a child in his mother’s womb. At the moment of birth, Chazal explain, the angel taps the child on his mouth, and all the Torah he’s learned is forgotten.

These well-known surroundings are actually rather confusing. What is the point of learning the whole Torah if it will just be forgotten? Why does the angel tap the child on the mouth — wouldn’t the head be a more appropriate place to represent forgetfulness? And what happens to the lit candle and the child’s extensive vision?

Already Within Us

In Living Inspired, Rabbi Tatz explains that all of the Torah learned in the womb is found within a person on subconscious level. Throughout our lives, we work on bringing this knowledge to the fore, to a level of consciousness. This is why, when we hear something beautiful and inspiring, we often feel a sense of familiarity; we are not really learning something new but recognizing something we’ve known. Knowing that all of this knowledge is already within us, and all we have to do is uncover it, Rabbi Tatz explains, serves as an inspiration that we can indeed succeed in our spiritual journeys and quests.

Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz in Sichos Mussar explains that the state of the fetus in the womb is similar to the state of Adam before he sinned.  Since the unborn child is not affected by the curse that befell Adam, he can learn the whole Torah without exertion; all of his needs are taken care of without any effort on his part. The child can also see from one end of the world to the other — he is shown the secrets of creation, as depicted by the Gemara. But at the moment of birth, the curse of Adam goes into effect. The child will need to work hard — not only to earn his bread but to learn Torah as well.

Investing great effort in Torah learning is a reality of This World — and a prerequisite to truly attaining it. This helps explain why Yaakov Avinu was constantly kicking in the womb, eager to leave, whenever Rivkah passed a beis medrash. While he was already being taught Torah by a malach, Yaakov Avinu understood that to acquire Torah, one must work — “ub’Toraso yehegeh yomam valailah.” Indeed, many great rabbanim have refused to learn Torah from maggidim, instead insisting on conquering their learning through tremendous effort. But while it takes struggle and exertion to master Torah learning, our ability to do so is entirely predicated on the gift of inherent knowledge that we have received before birth.