There is an amazing Yerushalmi quoted by the Torah Temimah in this week’s parsha. The Yerushlami expounds on the verse that says ויתן אל משה ככלותו when Moshe finished accepting the Torah. The Yerushalmi explains that Moshe received the Torah as a present. The reason why it was given as a present was because each day of the forty days that Moshe learned with Hashem he would forget what he n. However, at the end of the forty days, Hashem gave the entire Torah to Moshe as a present. The Yerushalmi goes on to explain that this was to show in the future to all those who think that they can’t learn, that if they put in the right effort Hashem gives them the Torah. I heard this also from Rav Goldvicht zt”l in the name of the Brisker Rav regarding the words in the Gemara in Megillah יגעת ומצאת תאמן if you put in effort and then find, you should believe it. The Rav explained that when a person puts in the effort, the wisdom they get is really a finding because ultimately it’s not because they are smart; rather, it’s because they put in an effort, so Hashem decides at that moment to give them the understanding.
This is a big chizuk especially in this generation. Many children are encouraged to study quickly and not put in the real effort of review and trying to understand, and they end up years later not really knowing how to learn, and they think they will never be able to retain and properly understand. The secret to success in learning is this Yerushalmi: put in an effort, because when you do so, Hashem will give the Torah to you as a present.
I was recently speaking to a person; I will call him Moishe. Moishe was frustrated that he wasn’t retaining anything, whether it was the daf yomi or mishnayos or Nach, and this was upsetting him. Then he began to review mishnayos over and over again. At this point, mishnayos began to become familiar to him, and this gave him a bit of happiness, but he wasn’t yet satisfied. I asked him how many times he reviewed a particular Maseches. He wasn’t sure, so I asked did you review 40 times? The answer was no. I told him the Gemara says 40 times review puts the item in your pocket. However, as the Vilna Gaon says, something in your pocket isn’t fully secure; you need to check once in a while to make sure it’s still in your pocket and didn’t fall out. The real secure way to succeed is to review the material 101 times, as the Gemara explains in Maseches Chagiga. When we accept this concept, it will inspire us to review more with more excitement, and this in turn this will give us more happiness, and we will be zoche to be true עבדי השם bimhera beyamu with Mashiach tzidkainu.
by Rabbi Daniel Coren
