Even a Little Bit of Learning:
It is related that someone once mournfully told the Steipler Gaon zt”l that he learns and learns but cannot understand anything. The Steipler told him, “Do you think the only reason you are learning is to become a Magid Shiur or Rosh Yeshiva? You benefit from every line of Gemara that you learn. In our world of falsehood, it seems like one only benefits if he reaches a good conclusions but in the World of Truth, it is clear that one benefits from every line of Gemara that he learns.”
This is proven from the Gemara (Chagigah 5B) that relates that Rav Idi, the father of Rav Yaakov, would travel for three months to learn in the bais medrash for one day, and he then spend three months traveling back home. For this reason, he was known as “bar bei rav d’chad yoma” (a student of the yeshiva for one day). It says that Rav Idi felt discouraged and applied to himself the verse (Iyov 12:4): “I was a joke to my friends.” To counter this, Rav Yochanan went into the bais medrash and read the pasuk (Yeshaya 58:2): “And they seek Me by day and they wish to know My ways.” He asked: Do people seek Hashem by day and not by night? Rather, the meaning of this is that if one is immersed in Torah for even one day a year, it is considered as if he learned every day of the year.
In this vein, it is related that there was a bochur in the Chofetz Chaim zt”l’s yeshiva in Radin who was a tremendous masmid. After his wedding, however, he had to go into business to support his family, and he eventually stopped learning at all. One day, he met the Chofetz Chaim, who rebuked him by saying, “I know it is hard for you to learn as diligently as you used to but why did you completely stop learning? You should at least join the group of men who learn a bit of Gemara or Mishnayos in the bais knesses every day!”
The talmid replied that he didn’t consider learning like that to be learning at all. He was accustomed to learning 10 hours straight and reviewing 10 blatt of Gemara in-depths every day. How could he lower himself to feel good about learning one blatt of Gemara or one chapter of Mishnayos a day? Instead, he wanted to wait until his businesses improved and he could find the time to learn like he used to.
The Chofetz Chaim told him that the Mishnah says (Avos 2:5) that one should never say that he’ll learn when he has the time. This is comparable to a weak man who is ordered by his doctor not to go to the sauna, since the heat is bad for him. One day, he was passing by a sauna and he couldn’t hold himself back from going inside. The heat harmed him so much that he felt faint, so he ran towards the cold mikvah to immerse in the frigid waters. However, he found that the door to the mikvah was locked. He cried out for help and someone ran over with a pail of cold water to pour on him. Of course, at this time when his life is hanging in the balance, he won’t tell the man to go away because he only wants to immerse his entire body in the mikvah. Of course, he will accept the little bit of water this man has to save him from collapsing.
Learning Torah with complete immersion can be compared to immersing in a cold mikvah. When the yeitzer hara is burning and threatening to overtake us, this may be the best course of action. However, if this isn’t possible at moment, it is, of course, preferable to soak oneself with whatever water he can get ahold of right now, rather than remaining in danger until he can fully immerse himself. Therefore, at this time, when it is not possible, to fully immerse in the sea of Torah, the Chofetz Chaim urged the man to at least pour over himself the lifegiving waters of Torah by learning as much as he could at the moment.
