The Light Within It
Chazal read a bitter verse of Yirmiyahu as a hidden promise: the Torah itself has the power to bring a person back.
Through Yirmiyahu, Hashem gave the reason for the exile: they have forsaken Me, and they have not kept My Torah. Chazal read the verse with a surprising sigh. Rebbi Chiya bar Abba said: if only they had forsaken Me and kept My Torah, for by being busy with it, the light within it would have brought them back to the good. The Midrash continues with Rav Huna: learn Torah even when it is not for its own sake, for from learning not for its own sake a person comes to learn for its own sake. The same opening asks why the land was lost and answers from Yirmiyahu's words: because they forsook My Torah. The Torah is not only a list of what Hashem asks of us; it carries a light that slowly turns a person back toward Him, even one who began for the wrong reasons.
Source: Midrash Eichah Rabbah, Pesichta 2 (on Yirmiyahu 16:11 and 9:11–12)
You do not need to feel inspired before you begin to learn; the light in the Torah does its own work. This week, set a small, fixed time, ten minutes after Shacharis or before bed, and learn something even on a day when your heart is not in it: a passage of Chumash with Rashi, a mishnah, a halachah. If a child or friend has drifted, invite them to learn with you, with no conditions. Let the light do the bringing back.