Sichah 28
In This World, it is good for a person to look over and go through all of the sefarim hakedoshim and to learn all of them in order to be in every place [in the Torah], similar to the great noblemen who go and pass through many countries – and they spend a lot of money to do so – so that, afterwards, they can brag and say that they were in many countries, like the noblemen who brag and say, “I was in Warsaw,” and so on. So too, in This World, it is good for a person to be in all the holy places of the Torah so that he can boast in the Next World that he was in every place – in other words, all the holy sefarim. And in the future – in the Next World – they remind a person everything that he learned in This World.
Learning Torah with Consistency
In the first Torah in Likutei Mohoran, Rebbe Nachman explains that through learning Torah, we enter the realm of tefillah, break ourselves free from the false charm of the material world, awaken our minds to see the deeper meaning of life, and come closer to Hashem. Studying Torah gives us strength and energy. It builds our emunah and brings us to an awareness of the Creator.
However, in that lesson, Rebbe Nachman specifies that in order for the Torah to change our lives, we must learn “b’koach” – with power. The simple understanding of learning with power is the subject of this sichah, as well as many other teachings in Sichos HaRan, some of which we’ve already discussed. It means that we have to awaken ourselves to take advantage of every opportunity we have to learn and not waste time. It means that we don’t wait until we have chavrusa, a coffee, a shtender, clarity of mind, and so on, before we begin studying Torah. Instead, we just sit down, open a sefer, and start reading the words.
Some days, we have a lot of time for Torah and we have the yishuv hadaas to learn in depth – this certainly gives Hashem a lot of nachas. But even when we’re tired, busy, or for whatever reason we’re unable to focus, we should still maintain a connection to the Torah by studying in a simple way. There are even situations when all we can do is read the words with hardly any understanding at all. Nonetheless, at these times, we shouldn’t give up completely and waste time reading a newspaper or doing other unnecessary activities. Instead, we should awaken ourselves to remember that whatever we learn stays with us forever. This is not just true about a bachur in yeshivah who studies for hours at a time. Rather, even just a few minutes of learning a Mishnah or reciting Tehillim during a short break at work is an eternal merit.
Practically speaking, the main way that we attach ourselves to the Torah in this way is through taking on specific amounts from different sefarim that we study every day. Some sefarim we learn for an hour or more, while others we do for just ten or fifteen minutes, according the nature and importance of each sefer, as we discussed previously. Also, each person has different capabilities and amounts of time to spend learning Torah each day. The point is that we should keep ourselves busy with Torah study by going through certain sefarim every day, without fail. And if we miss a day, we should simply block out the past and make a new start the next day. This is the path of learning Torah with power that purifies our minds and elevates every aspect of our lives.
Here, in this sichah, Rebbe Nachman emphasizes the importance of being attached to the Torah with consistency, and through the example that he uses to illustrate this practice, he brings out some unique points regarding learning Torah.
The Unique Spiritual Light of Every Sefer
In Likutei Mohoran I, 61, Rebbe Nachman says that all of the sefarim that follow the tradition of the Torah as given to us by Moshe Rabbeinu and the Sages of the Talmud are absolutely necessary for the world. Every single sefer has a unique seichel that can bring us closer to Hashem in a way that is different from all the other sefarim. Nonetheless, there are certain sefarim that are more essential than others. Regarding niglah, Rebbe Nachman says that the Gemarra (with Rashi, Tosafos, Rosh and the Rif) and the Shulchan Aruch (with the main poskim) are the primary limud for every Jew. Similarly, regarding kabbalah, the main sefer is the Writings of the Arizal, and regarding chassidus, the main sefer is Likutei Halachos (see Sichos HaRan 76).
Therefore, when we decide what to learn on a daily basis, these sefarim should be the focus of our studies – each one of us according to his level. However, as we mentioned before, when we’re very careful to use our time wisely, we can often find that we have a little extra time in our daily schedule for other sefarim as well. In addition, there may be days when we have a lot of free time – such as Shabbos, a vacation, and so on.
It is very important for us to take advantage of this extra time to go through other sefarim, since each sefer has a special spiritual light that can awaken us to serve Hashem. There are many commentaries on the Chumash that can inspire us to live with the weekly parshah. There are sefarim of halachah that give us a very clear path in fulfilling mitzvos in modern day situations. There are sefarim of mussar and chassidus that can illuminate our minds and hearts to do teshuvah. Thus, when we have an opening in our daily schedule or period of free time, we should choose a sefer and go through it quickly, so that we can find a new spiritual connection to Hashem.