21 Jun The Daily Torah Imperative
As we take leave of Shavuos, we should try to ensure that its lingering memory should be more than our favorite blintzes and cheesecake. Now, while we still remember our late night Shavuos learning marathon, or the reading of the Ten Commandments and Megillas Rus, let’s make a concerted effort to take away from this memorable holiday, somethings that will impact our daily lives.
Of course, the obvious suggestion upon leaving “Zman matan Toroseinu – The season of the giving of the Torah,” is to evaluate whether we are spending enough time daily on Torah study. After all, we are taught, “Tchilas dino shel adam eino ela b’divrei Torah,” in our final reckoning, the very first issue that will determine the substance of our eternity is the quality and quantity of our daily Torah output. Let’s face it, when we buy a car or a suit or decide on a vacation, we are never satisfied with mediocrity. We certainly shouldn’t settle for it when it comes to our eternal future.
We are taught in Shulchan Oruch, that one should have a fixed time for Torah study, both in the day and in the night. This is so important that the Shulchan Oruch advises us that if we have to miss one our designated times, we should pay someone to learn in our stead. And, as we all know, if it comes to a question of shelling out money, we’d rather do it ourselves. So,as an after-Shavuos commitment, let’s concretize a time in the day and a time in the night when we will attend a shiur/lecture, make a chavrusa/study partner, or select something specific that we will study daily. Good times for this include before Shacharis or right afterwards, during a lunch break, between Mincha and Maariv, right after Maariv or before retiring for the night.
Here are some ideas of what to study. DafYomi is an obvious choice. You can learn Daf Yomi nightly with me on TorahAnytime.com, or listen on Kol Haloshon by dialing 718.906.6400, selecting 1 for English, 2 Mishna/Talmud, and then 1 for Daf Yomi. MishnaYomis is a great suggestion for short study periods such as a lunch break. You can learn that with me daily on Kol Haloshonby dialing 718.906.6471. You can also now hear the daily two mishnayos on TorahAnytime.com courtesy of Jonathan Gewirtz and Meir Sommers.
The Baalei Mussar say that if you only have a little time each day to learn, you should spend it on mussar for, if one learns mussar regularly, you’ll find more time to learn. You can listen or view my mussar discourses on Orchos Chaim L’HaRosh which will hopefully improve your life in many areas on TorahAnytime.com, which can be found by going to the mussar/self-improvement section, and on KolHaloshon by pressing 4 for mussar and then selection 4.
We must remember that the Mishna tells us in PirkeiAvos, “Ein bur yrei chait,v’lo am haaretz chosid – The ignorant person cannot be G-dfearing nor can the one absent of knowledge be pious.” So it is always a good idea to find some time to learn some Halacha. If you have a Dirshu shiur in your community, that’s the best way. If not, a crash course in Kitzur Shulchan Oruch will be very helpful. Finally, you must find time to be maavir sedra, go over the weekly parsha, twice with the Chumash and once with the Targum. aFor extra credit try learning some Rash”i as well. (Regarding learning the Rashi, Rabbi Belsky, Zt”l, Zy”a, says it’s sufficient to read with your eyes.) Not only is this course of study mandatory, it is also a very powerful segula for a long and wonderful life.
May Hashem give us the strength to upgrade our Torah leaning, as we head into the summer of 5776, and in that merit may Hashem bless us with long life, good health, and everything wonderful.