Q:
You were speaking tonight about the importance of repeating great ideas again in your thoughts in order that they should become part of your personality. Does this apply to learning as well?
A:
The truth is that you heard tonight an important principle in how to become great in all areas of avodas Hashem.
Now, if you are a ben Torah listen, because I am giving you now a recipe how to become great. That’s why I didn’t become great, because I didn’t follow it. But I am giving it to you anyhow.
If you will take just one statement of the gemara and think into it again and again – repeat it and think into it again – after a while you are going to discover good kashehs. You will be amazed.
This is something solid! What you are hearing now is a very important recipe for lomdus. The more you think into it, the more you will discover how difficult it is; it is not as easy as it was at first.
And this somebody told me in the name of the Chazon Ish zichrono livracha. Someone was speaking to the Chazon Ish personally and he was talking about learning the Rishonim and Acharonim, the big commentaries. It’s a remarkable thing what the Chazon Ish said. He said, “Learn the gemara twelve times and you won’t need the Rishonim and Acharonim – you will think of all the good questions yourself.”
And the same is if you will take just a verse, אשרי יושבי ביתך for example, and think into it. So you’ll say “There is nothing to think.” That’s because you have no idea what is there. Start thinking into it and after a few minutes you’ll start discovering something. If you think a few minutes today, a few minutes tomorrow, after a while you will find that it is like a well, a spring, and ideas will start pouring out of it. You’ll be amazed what depth there is in these great statements; whether it is halacha or whether it is pessukim. If you want to be big, dwell on one thing for five minutes.
A man heard me say this once so he said to me ”Five minutes?! I think two hours on one thing.”
I said, “Try it anyhow!”
He came back a few days later; “It’s very hard,” he said, “It’s very hard to keep your mind five minutes on one thing.”
TAPE # 141 (October 1976)
