  The focus upon the salvation of the individual comes out clearly in the opening sections of Yesod Mora.  Ibn Ezra critically reviews the different motivations people have for gaining expertise in the Law. Some do it for prestige, but this leads to social friction.  Others study the Law in order to improve society. This is commendable; however, this implies that in a just society, the Law would be superfluous. We can carry Ibn Ezra’s reasoning further: the Law must have some ultimate justification that is invariant over any and every social or historical situation. With this in mind, we can see the connection to the next point raised in the passage, which is this: many laws of the Torah are rarely if ever applied. How, then, the reader is led to wonder, can the Law be an end in itself for Jewish life?  Moreover, Ibn Ezra asks, how many legal experts do we need anyway?