M. Goldstein, a bachur from Bnei Brak, told the following story:
This happened to me during corona, but I feel that it’s so important to tell the story now, when there’s a war and we need to strengthen ourselves in learning.
When the corona virus broke out, our yeshivah initially set up sedarim over the phone, and many bachurim arranged to learn with new chavrusas. Somehow, I was left out in the cold with no chavrusas at all! I knew that I had to be strong and to sit and learn regardless of the difficult circumstances, so I pushed myself to learn. Morning seder. Afternoon seder. It wasn’t easy.
I plugged on for a full week, and it was hard – very hard! How long could a person sit alone in a room and focus properly? How much longer, I wondered, would I be able to struggle for understanding on my own?
By the end of that week, I felt I couldn’t do it anymore. I opened a sefer Tehillim and began to read each perek, word for word. I didn’t stop until I had recited the entire sefer.
The following morning I got two calls. The first was from a bachur who asked to learn with me over the phone for morning seder, and the second was from another bachur, who wanted to learn with me in the afternoons!
