TO LOVE THE TORAH CHAPTER 6

TO THOSE WHO COMPLAIN THAT IT IS DIFFICULT TO
UNDERSTAND GEMARA IT WILL BE EXPLAINED THAT
THE PERSEVERANCE ITSELF A VERY IMPORTANT GOAL
SINCE IT MAKES YOUR HOLIER

Young people often find learning Gemara too much of a
challenge because they think it is very difficult to understand.
There are two fundamental rules they ought to be aware of.
Firstly, experience shows, more than any number of theoretical
proofs, that as one gets used to learning Gemara, it does get
progressively easier. That does not mean that there will be no
more difficulties to solve or questions to answer; learning
Gemara always involves effort. Nevertheless, understanding the
‘pshat’, the straightforward meaning of the Gemara does get
easier.
The second point one ought to be aware of is that if it takes
effort to learn and understand a Gemara, in no way does it imply
that anything is wrong. On the contrary, the toil and effort is the
most important part of learning Torah. The Chazon Ish wrote:
“The main thing is the effort; it is precisely through the struggle
to understand the holy words of the Torah that a person comes
to deserve the soul-illuminating light of Hashem’s Torah.”
Therefore, even if a man is a genius, and understands the
Gemara without exerting himself, it is still important that he
should use all his powers of concentration to come to a more
thorough and profound understanding of the same Gemara
Otherwise an essential element of learning Torah is still missing.
The effort one has to put into learning is vital, for it contains a
powerful force that effectively refines the soul of the Torah
scholar.
The effort that goes into learning Torah purifies and refines
the soul. To a young student it might sometimes seem as if he is
suffering when he tries so hard and doesn’t manage to
understand a Gemara. He may feel disappointed when he finds
that he has to study the same passage over and again, and pore
over every detail, before he begins to get the gist of what the
Gemara is saying. Yet the truth is that these very factors are
assets to his learning; they are what purify his soul and confer
on it Divine qualities.
The Vilna Gaon was famous as an intellectual genius from his
earliest youth. Nevertheless in the writings of his pupil, R. Chaim
Volozhin (Nefesh Ha’Chaim) there are remarkable accounts
which give insights into the tremendous energies the Vilna Gaon
used to expend on learning Torah, and we feel that it is
important to quote from what he wrote.
“The Vilna Gaon, our pious and holy master, was a world
renowned genius. His manner of learning Torah was to think
and concentrate and strain himself to a degree that is
impossible to appreciate or to describe. Because of his superior
powers of concentration and most wonderful holiness, he
merited to grasp the edge of understanding the Torah. It is
unbelievable how that mighty giant among men exerted himself
until he arrived at the absolute clarity of truth. Even though he
was endowed with remarkable depth of understanding and had
gained vast stores of knowledge from scholars of past
generations. Nevertheless his pure heart never allowed him to
take advantage of those qualities. Instead he delved into a
subject until he had contemplated it from every angle and
considered all the ramifications – hundreds of times. In his
awesome concentration he could continue for several days and
nights without eating or drinking and without sleeping, until his
appearance showed that his physical being was exhausted. He
quite literally gave himself up totally for the Torah. Then, when
Hashem lit up his eyes with the true understanding, he
underwent an instant transformation, and his face shone with
purity and happiness at the clarity of the Torah.”
Quite obviously the Vilna Gaon’s remarkable powers of
concentration are not expected of everyone. However we can,
and ought, to learn from his example. Everyone must strive
intensely – to the limits of his own abilities – when he learns
Torah, because the effort is what purifies and refines you.