So here’s a man who asks me: “How can someone even begin to learn when there’s so much to learn; it looks so impossible?” But you have to know that those are the words of the yetzer hara talking. When it comes to making money you don’t say, “Why should I bother to start making money when there’s so much money to make?” No, you don’t say that; you start selling peanuts on the street corner, you hustle, you try to get whatever you can. And little by little you accomplish.
Start hustling; learn one line of Gemara. You mean to say you’re going to leave this world and you won’t be able to say that you learned one line of Gemara? You can’t learn one line?! Are you such a dumbhead?! Ask somebody to help you! Say it over inside, ten times, fifty times.
Now the truth is you could learn more than one line. If you would learn one line a week, you know that in ten years you’d know something! One line a week, and you’d review it constantly. One line a week; who couldn’t do that?! And so, there won’t be any excuse to give on that great day when the question will be asked, “Osakta baTorah? Did you engage in the study of My Torah?” Everybody must study the Gemara. And it’s not hard. It’s difficult to learn a lot of Gemara, the whole Shas, but one line?! You can’t learn one line?!
“Who Was Rav Huna?”
In shomayim they’ll ask you, “Who was Rav Huna?” “Rav Huna? I think he lived in our neighborhood.” There are people like that; they think that Rav Huna was maybe the rav of the other shul in their neighborhood. No; we have to recognize our Tana’im and Amora’im. Not just recognize them but to love the names in the Gemara. You should love the sound of Abbaye and Rava; of Rav Papa and Rav Huna brei di’Rav Yehoshua. All of our great men; love their names! The taste of their names should be on our tongues sweeter than honey. Because that is the honey of the Am Yisroel.
And therefore we are not impressed by the fact that there’s so much to learn. Certainly we are impressed but we aren’t overwhelmed. It says רֹמ¿‚ƒל הָכ‡ָל¿ּמַהָיך∆לָﬠ ‡ֹל, it’s not your job to learn the whole Shas. If you can, learn it. But at least learn a piece of it. You mean to say that you’re going to leave here and you’ll forget about what you heard here, about the great ideals of Torah learning? You’re not going to learn Gemara because it’s so much, so vast of a wisdom?! No, you have to learn, at least one line. And make it your business to repeat that line again and again and again.
