Introduction: Reaping Full Benefit
A considerable portion of a bochur's time is devoted to
covering large amounts of gemora, Rashi and
Tosafos at a fairly swift pace. The gains to be made
from this study are obvious. However, a number of points need
to be stressed, to ensure that the maximum benefit is gained
from this type of learning. This article explains the quality
of the bekius which one should strive for and makes
several recommendations as to how to it can be attained.
Aiding Retention
The basic purpose of learning bekius is to gain broad
knowledge of as many masechtos of Shas as
possible and to remember the material properly. In order to
retain the sugyos that they learn, some bochurim
need to delve a little into the comments of the
Rishonim. This helps them remember the basic structure
of the sugya. Others can more easily commit
gemoras to memory once they have reviewed them a number
of times. Not everyone will find that his efforts to memorize
what he learns are helped by looking into the Rishonim,
and similarly, not everyone will find that simply reviewing
again and again will help him in remembering.
Nevertheless, while the aim of learning bekius is to
know the gemora, the Rashi and the
Tosafos, it is certainly beneficial to see the
principle opinions of the Rishonim and the comments of
the major Acharonim while learning the sugya.
The point here is that without adding any depth at all from
the comments of the Rishonim or the Acharonim to
one's study of a sugya, the chances of remembering it
well are low. It is therefore important to add some spice,
maybe a strong kushyah, or an original insight. The
flavor which this adds to the learning helps one in
remembering the entire topic.
The True Problem
If, when a week has gone by, one finds that one doesn't
remember what one learned the week before, this doesn't
necessarily indicate that one's memory is at fault. When
speaking about a good memory, we refer to the ability to
retrieve information that was learned a long time before.
However, everybody ought to be able to remember something
which he learned recently. Forgetting quickly is a result of
learning with incomplete concentration.
One can forget not only what one learned the week before, but
even what one learned on the previous day. Obviously, a normal
person's memory is not so weak as to lead him to forget what
he has just learned.
If one finds this happening, it can only be because he is not
investing all his strength into learning the sugya
thoroughly to begin with. He is making do with a superficial
understanding, not giving his full attention to what he is
learning. If someone can't even recall the details of the
sugya while he is learning it, when else should he get
to know them? One must therefore make sure to absorb the
material properly. The main thing is that a bochur
should leave the seder with the feeling that he has a
command over what he learned.
Finding the Right Pace
Each individual should learn at a pace that suits his
abilities. People differ in the time it takes them to grasp
things. Some will gain a thorough understanding swiftly, while
others take longer over getting to grips with the basics of a
sugya. Most bochurim are able to follow what
they are learning without undue difficulty and each should
proceed at a pace that suits the abilities that he has
received from Hashem yisborach, without trying to make
something out of nothing.
The widespread notion that a slow learner is a scholar, while
a fast mover is learning superficially, is a mistake.
Sometimes learning slowly is a sign of inability to grasp the
deeper, more fundamental meaning of the sugya, and
going at a slower pace makes it less taxing. Or, it may simply
be due to incomplete concentration. Rather than being a sign
of depth then, learning slowly may indicate labored thought
and inattention. Everyone should ensure that he is using all
his abilities to the utmost.
Whether or not this is the case will be evident, for example,
from the results of the bekius session, which is
usually three-and-a-half hours long in yeshivos. In these two
hundred and ten minutes, a capable bochur can achieve a
great deal. The yeshiva might only expect an omud to be
learned each day in this time, but a gifted bochur can
cover that amount in half an hour. At any rate, he shouldn't
be covering less than an omud and if he is, he should
see to it that he makes up the missing material on Fridays or
over Shabbos.
Another important point is that though three-and-a-half hours
a day can lead to outstanding results, it's impossible if one
arrives half an hour late and then leaves early.
Again and Again
One of the yetzer hora's greatest achievements in our
generation is to discourage people from reviewing what they
learn. We must repeat the message again and again: There's no
knowing without reviewing! If one absorbs what he learns
properly and still remembers it after some time has passed,
then when he wants to review, he'll be able to do so very
quickly, and in half an hour, will be able to cover a
considerable amount.
There is no fixed way to review which, if followed, will
ensure that a person retains what he has learned. Everyone has
to make his own reckoning. What is clear though is, that one
must review a number of times in order to remember material
well.
It is easier to review an entire masechteh which one
has learned well, for this is a self-contained unit and there
is a particular pleasure in holding onto something which one
has acquired in its entirety. This pleasure exceeds that of
any reviewing of other material and it will always draw him
back to this masechteh, to review and reflect upon it
again and again, so that he can always retain the wonderful
feeling of knowing a complete masechteh.
Every ben Torah invests a lot in learning a
masechteh, usually six months or even a year, and it's
a great pity to lose such a precious belonging because of the
failure to review. A person's most precious commodity is his
time, especially his years as a bochur. Woe to someone
who wastes his opportunities. Chazal call such a person -- who
wastes what he is given -- a fool.
HaRav Yechiel Michel Tikochinsky zt'l, related that in
his youth, he learned perek Chezkas Habatim together
with HaRav Tzvi Pesach Frank zt'l. They also reviewed
it together a number of times and Rav Tikochinsky recalled,
"When we learned the perek for the thirtieth time, I no
longer felt the pleasure and the desire that I had felt the
first time. However HaRav Frank made his thirtieth review of
the perek with as much enjoyment as he had made his
first."
One should be reviewing one's learning continually, and always
with enjoyment and desire. Experience shows that the more a
person applies himself to his learning, the more he enjoys it
and the greater his pleasure in it.
The Key to Success
Another point that should be discussed is the importance of
recognizing one's own value. This is something which many
talmidim do not have nowadays. It often happens that a
bochur realizes that he has the abilities and the
opportunity to climb higher but he holds back because he is
worried about having to cope with feelings of pride. The truth
is, however, that the root of humility is the recognition of
one's own worth together with the realization that however
great one may be, one deserves nothing for it.
Everyone must try to discover, either by himself or by
consulting others, the particular gifts which he has been
given. Rather than attempting to reach levels for which he
lacks the necessary traits, he should make full use of those
abilities which he does have.
The Creator has endowed everyone with certain gifts. One type
of person is more inclined towards learning in depth,
another's inclination is towards acquiring great breadth of
knowledge, while a third has a bent towards using his
abilities for learning halochoh. Another type of
bochur enjoys writing. Why not use such a valuable
gift, which can be of immense benefit?
At the same time, there are also bochurim who do not
enjoy the yeshiva's regular program of study. They only feel
fulfilled when they are learning other things which,
naturally, they prefer to spend their time on. The general
rule in this kind of case is that during a bochur's
first years in yeshiva, while he attends shiurim, his
learning must follow the approach of the shiurim and
their way of learning. Even in subsequent years, one should be
careful not to abandon the framework of the yeshiva's
sedorim, to maintain the full learning schedule and to
keep one's priorities straight, not relegating what is of
prime importance to second place and vice versa. However, at
the same time, one ought to also find a suitable time to delve
into those topics that one feels a strong desire to learn.
Everyone should use his gifts to the fullest and very often
this will bring tremendous benefit. Besides reaping the actual
benefit of the particular strengths which he possesses, a
bochur will be able to see his own worth and this will
lead him to utilize other traits of his, to which he had not
previously paid attention. The greater the extent to which he
does this, the higher it will help him climb in Torah. Someone
who doesn't recognize his own worth, is liable to fall into
despondency and depression chas vesholom. Experience
bears out all of this, and there are many, many stories that
could be cited as examples.
In his later years, HaRav Isser Zalman Meltzer zt'l,
met HaRav Shmuel Yitzchok Hillman zt'l, who told him,
"We learned together in Volozhin for many years and both of us
were fortunate enough to write seforim. You wrote
Even Ho'ezel and I wrote Or Hayoshor (a work in
the bekius style, drawing on a very broad and
comprehensive knowledge). If I would have tried to write a
sefer like yours, and you would have tried to write one
like mine, neither of us would have managed to produce any
kind of sefer."
Conclusion: Building the Future
Every bochur should utilize the opportunity of being
together with other good bochurim and the merit of
spending time in a yeshiva, to make the most of his years as a
bochur, for this is the period that determines his
entire future. This is the pattern with which Hakodosh
Boruch Hu has imprinted us -- whatever a person acquires
as a bochur, he carries with him for life. If we use
our time properly, we will merit Heavenly assistance, enabling
us to grow and to progress in Torah and in yiras
Shomayim.
