A boy comes home from Shacharis on the first day of vacation and makes up his mind that he will not waste his time. From thought to deed, he decides that he will learn Mishnayos by heart. And so he begins to learn Mishnayos while looking down so that he does not see anything on the way that will distract him from his learning. Suddenly he sees a large denomination bill with no sign on it to return it. He bends down, takes the bill and continues learning with a good feeling that Heaven has smiled upon him, as if to say, ‘They see your deeds, and as he is walking and learning he suddenly hears a loud blast that makes him jump. He stops, looks up and seconds later a car speeds past him, literally centimeters in from him, a driver who lost control of the car, and he is likely to think that his learning Mishnayos protected him on the way.
The ‘Maadanei HaShulchan’, R’ Levi Rabinovitz, father of Moreinu HaRav shlita would constantly learn Mishnayos while going on the way. He would encourage everyone, young and old, to learn Mishnayos by heart so they could fulfill the mitzvah of ‘uvelechtecha vaderech’ – ‘while you walk on the way’. The Ramak (Rav Moshe Cordovero) wrote that learning Mishnayos guards the person from external forces, and they will not harm him, the encrustations and bad visuals that are found on the way, and by learning Mishnayos while on the way, he is guarded from all challenges and bad visuals found in the streets and ways. So is it written in the sefer ‘Maggid Meisharim’, who told the ‘Bais Yosef’, ‘when you are outside in the marketplace and you think about the Mishna, the angels call out, ‘Here comes the dear child of the Holy King’, and countless soldiers accompany you.’
Who does not need protection? Everyone needs, and especially when many are ‘walking on the way’... and all the ways are dangerous. Therefore, it is fitting for every Jew to be fluent in Mishnayos by heart so that he can learn them on his way. This is what Rav Levi told us, ‘Take one mishna and learn it by heart until you know it very well, then take another mishna and another, until you know a whole perek [chapter], and so on! One who does this increases his learning and his protection.’
-Tiv HaTorah - Eikev
