Introduction Rabbi Nehunia ben Hakkanah lived at the same time as Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai, that is around the time of the destruction of the Second Temple.
Rabbi Nehunia ben Hakkanah said: whoever takes upon himself the yoke of the Torah, they remove from him the yoke of government and the yoke of worldly concerns, and whoever breaks off from himself the yoke of the Torah, they place upon him the yoke of government and the yoke of worldly concerns. One interpretation of this statement is that one who takes upon himself the yoke of Torah, meaning he spends all of his time studying Torah, is not liable to pay taxes to the government, nor must he worry about earning a living for the Jewish community will make sure that he and his family are provided for. Since Torah is such a high value to the Jewish community, the Jewish people are willing to relieve of their economic burdens if they wish to study Torah full time. If, however, a person does not engage in Torah he must pay taxes and earn his living. Another possibility is that one who studies Torah will nevertheless need to work for a living as well, but his living will come to him so easily that he will have no trouble paying taxes or supporting those dependent on him. In other words he will not feel that the government or his other worldly concerns are a “yoke” around his neck. The difference between this explanation and the previous one is that in this explanation God rewards the Torah scholar, whereas in the previous one the community rewarded the Torah scholar by supporting him.