The Rambam (Hilchos Talmud Torah, 1:7) rules that every single Yid is obligated to learn Torah, regardless of his financial position, his state of health, or his stage or station in life. He derives this from the pasuk that says v’higisa boi yomum vu’layalah,” you should toil in Torah study day and night.
We have a principle ‘ones rachmana patrei,” one is exempted from his obligations if he is subjected to uncontrollable circumstances. Why doesn’t this apply to the mitzvah of talmud Torah? Why wouldn’t one be exempt due to extraordinarily difficult life circumstances?
This halachah reveals a tremendous insight into the essence of this unique mitzvah. We refer to it as Toras Chaim, the Torah is life itself. The world itself could not continue to exist without constant Torah learning. The chovos halevovos compares our case of oneis to a sick person who does not heed the advice of his doctor. “It is too hard for me to take my medication,” he reasons. “Surely the doctor will understand why I did not follow his instructions.” Yes, he might be very understanding, but he will still suffer from his illness unless he takes the medicine! So, too, is the case with someone who does not learn Torah. Are there circumstances where he can claim he was an oneis? Perhaps. But he needs the life-giving sustenance of the Torah, and all the excuses in the world will not supply him with chaim unless he actually sits down and learns Torah.
One can fulfill this mitzvah by learning any part of Torah, in any way. However, there is another aspect to talmud Torah whose importance cannot be overstated, and we cannot afford to overlook.
Parshas Bechukosai begins, “Im b’chukosai tei’lie’chu, v’es mitzvosai tishmeru.” The phrase b’chukosai tei’lie’chu cannot be referring to observing the mitzvos, because the pasuk immediately continues and says v’es mitzvosai tishmeru, explicitly referring to keeping the mitzvos. This prompted Chazal to explain that this phrase is instructing klal yisroel to be “ameilim b’torah,” we should toil and exert ourselves to learn and understand Torah.
This is the great secret to success in Torah learning. Natural traits such as a good memory, a sharp mind, and consistent diligence are all helpful tools, but they do not ensure that the student will develop into a true talmid chacham. The real benchmark of a genuine Torah scholar is not the amount of information he amasses, but the ameilus, the degree to which he toils and labors to understand Torah properly.
The Rosh Yeshiva of Chevron, Rav Yechezkal Sarna ztz”l, once received the first volume of the ‘Encyclopedia Talmudis’ as a present. This sefer is a compilation of the varied opinions about many topics in shas. He thanked the person who gave it to him, and when he looked through the sefer, he was very impressed. However, he wrote a note on the first page, reminding himself that “Torah is acquired through ameilus.” Reference works have their place and their use, but he wanted to be mindful of the primacy of ameilus b’Torah.
The Gemara (Megila 3) tells us that when Yonasan Ben Uziel wrote his Targum, a translation and explanation of the sifrei nevi’im, an area of four hundred square parsa of Eretz Yisroel trembled. At this time, a bas kol was heard saying, “Who has revealed the secrets of My Torah?” Yonasan Ben Uziel then arose and proclaimed, “I am the one who revealed it, but I only did so to avoid machlokes in klal yisroel.”
The Tosfos Ri”d explains that once he wrote the Targum, people did not need to invest as much energy to interpret and understand the pesukim. Creating a situation that would eventually lead to diminishing ameilus b’Torah is indeed an earthshaking event.
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Later on that same daf, the Gemara rules that “mevatlin Talmud Torah, u’boin lishmo’ah mikra megilla,” we interrupt Torah study in order to come and hear the reading of the Megilah. There is an inherent difficulty in this statement. The Megilah is part of the Torah, and so listening to the Megilah is also a form of Torah study. How can we refer to this as ‘bitul Torah’?
Rav Efrayim Zalman Margolis explains that although listening to the Megilah is included in the mitzvah of learning Torah, but it is certainly done without ameilus. This lack of effort is also considered ‘bitul Torah’ relative to Torah learning that is done with ameilus.
The De’rishah (a primary commentator on the Tur) cites a reason for the minhag to make a shalom zachor, a small celebration on the Friday night after a baby boy is born. He explains that the child learned the entire Torah with a malach for many months. He now forgot all his learning, and so we console him as he mourns this great loss.
Now, the sefer Chelkas Yoav questions why we are not obligated to rise for every expecting woman. After all, she might be carrying a boy, who is still knowledgeable in the entire Torah. If so, we should rise for him, the same as we do for every other talmid chochom? The difference, he explains, lies in the quality of his learning. His Torah learning lacked the essential element of ameilus b’Torah, and so he is not deemed worthy of being honored.
Yaakov Avinu exhibited this understanding even as a fetus. Chazal tell us that when Riva Imeinu would pass by a beis medrash, Yaakov would attempt to leave the womb. The question is obvious. He was learning with a malach; why did he feel the need to go learn in an ‘ordinary’ beis medrash, with regular people? The answer, we must conclude, is that he was learning without ameilus, and he was yearning for the experience of learning with ameilus.
In a similar vein, Rav Chaim Shmulevitz writes that he does not understand the reason of the De’risha. The child previously learned without ameilus, and now that he was born, he has the opportunity to learn with ameilus. If so, there is no reason he requires consolation.
There are so many incredible examples of great people, throughout the generations, applying this principle in remarkable ways.
In a cemetery in Yerushalayim stands a uniquely fascinating matzeiva. The inscription on the front of this tombstone states the name of the niftar, and then continues to describe how he, “finished meseches beitza and meseches rosh hashana four thousand times.” The inscription on the other side of the matzeiva gives some details about this extraordinary accomplishment. This individual was told by his doctor that he needed an eye surgery which carried a risk of his losing his eyesight completely. As he contemplated his situation, he realized that it would be extremely difficult for him to continue his learning without the ability to read seforim. Therefore, he chose these two mesechtos, and spent every available moment before the surgery reviewing them again and again, until he had memorized them perfectly. He continued learning these two mesechtos for the rest of his life, and asked that they should inscribe this story on his matzeiva, to inspire others to realize what one can attain with true ameilus b’Torah.
More recently, a noted talmid chochom once arrived at the home of Harav Ovadia Yosef zt”l at eight thirty in the morning, and asked to speak to the Rav regarding an urgent matter. His wife replied that he would have to wait until nine o’clock, when he had asked to be awoken. The visiting Rav couldn’t contain his surprise at hearing that the gadol was still asleep at this relatively late hour. The Rebbitzen read his expression correctly, and quickly explained that he had received an important overseas phone call at midnight. He was not ready to pasken on the issue without further research, and so he spent the last few hours thoroughly reviewing the sugya. He completed his learning at seven a.m., and then went straight to daven shachris. He only went to sleep at eight fifteen, and yet he requested that he be woken a mere forty five minutes later, at nine o’clock. That is an example of ameilus b’Torah!
Young Tzvi Hirsch was not doing well in cheder. He was a troublemaker, uninterested in his learning, and his behavior was causing his parents endless heartache. One night, he overheard his parents having a conversation, and he realized that his father was talking about him. It seems he had despaired of ever seeing results from his learning, and he was ready to apprentice his son to a shoemaker, so he should be able to earn an honest living. The young boy was deeply shaken at seeing his father’s anguish, and hearing of this plan. He immediately approached his father, and tearfully begged him for another chance. He began to apply himself to his studies, and eventually Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin, known to all as the Netziv, became the Rosh Yeshiva of Volozhin.
At a special seudah to celebrate the completion of one of his seforim, Eimek Shei’los, the Netziv shared the story, and he reflected on his life’s journey. “Can you imagine,” he said, “if things had turned out differently? If I hadn’t overheard this conversation, I probably would have become a shoemaker! I would have davened, learned a little mishnayos, and faithfully observed the mitzvos to the best of my limited knowledge. After 120 years, Hashem would have confronted me, and asked me why I hadn’t written the Eimek Shei’los. “What do you want from me?” I would have replied incredulously. “How can you ask a simple shoemaker why he didn’t produce scholarly works?” How mistaken I would have been! B”H I merited choosing wisely.”
We must reflect on our own lives. Everyone is judged on their own capabilities, their own personalities, their own intellect and characteristics. But are we so confident that we truly know what we are capable of? Perhaps we are producing our own version of ‘shoes’, when we could be authoring seforim?
B”H, in our present day, Torah is available literally anywhere, anytime. We can dial in to hear shiurim on the phone, we can pop in a cd, and we can even read many seforim in the language of our preference. This is a wonderful opportunity, and also creates a strong mandate for more talmud Torah. At the same time, we must bear in mind that Torah is not meant to be spoon-fed. While availing ourselves of the available resources, we must remember that we need to increase not only our learning, but our ameilus b’Torah, and exert ourselves in learning to our utmost.
