Q:
How can one talk himself out of his despair in knowing the Torah?
A:
I suppose it means that he thinks that it’s too much for him to do and he gives up hope; he gives up hope of succeeding in knowing Torah.
And so we’ll take an analogy. As you walk on Kings Highway, you see big establishments. There are some big businesses there, successful stores. But on one street corner, there’s a man with a peanut stand. It’s a simple cart; two wheels, that’s all, and there’s a little stove that’s heating the peanuts. And this man is standing there and waiting for customers.
Now, they’re not standing in line for him. Customers are few and far between. And sometimes it’s cold too. Does he give up? No. Why doesn’t he give up? Because he wants as much as he can earn. He can earn three dollars a day, five dollars a day, he’s satisfied. Of course, he’d like to earn five thousand dollars a day but when it comes to money, however, you earn as much as you’re able. And he’s quite happy if he takes home five dollars at the end of the day.
When it comes to learning, all of a sudden nobody wants to learn for peanuts. Everybody wants to be a millionaire. “If I cannot be a gadol hador, then I don’t want to learn.” He gives up. I had a case like that. He said, “I can’t become a gadol so what’s the use?”
No! If you can learn one line a day it’s a success! You learn two lines? A bigger success! Learn whatever you can and that’s a great achievement.
It’s only the yetzer horah that tells you either you learn for the highest stakes or don’t learn at all. It’s a deception and many people allow themselves to be persuaded by that. It’s remarkable how much people can accomplish if they learn little by little. In the course of time, it adds up to a great amount of wealth.
TAPE # 307
