I received a special pleasure this week.
Two weeks ago, my oldest son, who is learning in Yerushaliyim, asked if we can learn mishnayos together for 10 minutes a day every morning. I was more than happy to take him up on this offer, since he's never made such an offer.
The other day when he was explaining a particular mishna, he said, "and the Gemara here talks about this in more detail," to which I quipped, "Oh … Mr. Talmud Chacham remembers this Gemara?" as I looked at the surrounding commentaries, expecting one of them to say exactly that (thinking he was reading from one of them). And he replied, "No, I actually learned this Gemara and remember it"
Silence.
Dang. That's impressive!
I believe the old saying is: "In your face!"
"And you shall take from the first (m'reishis) of your fruits…" (Devarim 26:2).
This pasuk begins the commandment for every Jew, every year, to bring the first of his fruits to the Beis HaMikdash, to bring as a korban.
The word "reishis" can mean "first" and also mean, "beginning." The letter mem, that is in the front of the word, means "from."
The Admor of Kotinov explains this pasuk as follows: "And you shall take from the first …" A person should always view himself as if he is at the beginning of his journey. He's "from the beginning," and when he feels he is in the beginning, "you shall take it," you shall take the journey into your own hands with success.
Being, when one is in the beginning of any journey, being travelling, or a project, or in learning, or in work, one is excited and their eyes light up. However, after a time, that excitement wears down as the journey continues. And at that point, a person might simply no longer consider the journey to be worthwhile.
However, when you constantly renew that feeling of "newness," the journey feels a lot less heavier.
If one does not reignite himself, he ends up stagnating. Rav Moshe Feinstein once said over an example, and I just happened to hear of the exact same example he gave. Somebody told me of their son who has a very sharp head. He's very quick, very intelligent, and "he could learn in two hours what it takes others four hours to learn." One might think, "Wow! What a bracha!" However, once he learns what he's supposed to learn in two hours, he goes off and uses the rest of the time as his break. He had an "assignment," he did the assignment, and now he is done. Perhaps his brain power is better than his peers, but his reward for learning Torah? His reward for his respect for Torah? Undoubtedly, he is below par.
Instead of using his abilities and renewing his drive to learn more or to learn deeper, he shuts himself down.
I am the opposite. My current brain power is that of a snail after being run over by a truck and baked in the sun. It's currently a tad harder for me to learn than it is for him, for several reasons.
Currently, I'm in the middle of Bava Kamma. An important piece of the Talmud which deals with the laws of damages. Lots of talk about cows, pits, fires, etc. It's a tad more difficult to feel excited, at least for me, compared to other topics. Other topics, like Shabbos, kashrus, tzedakah, etc., all, from the Gemara itself, speaks in everyday terms. And because of that, seem to be easier to digest.
After going through a mishna and it's Gemara, I did some review, and then I realized I had a few modern-day questions that might just fit this particular piece I learned. So, instead of being lazy as I did my review, I wrote down several questions, and noted where in the Shulchan Oruch I can start looking for the answers. Now, I have a list of sources ready to go for the afternoon. And now, it's exciting once again.
This lesson is especially important to internalize as we approach Rosh HaShanah in a few weeks. It's a time to completely renew ourselves for the upcoming year. We can put together our own personal "game plan" on what we want to accomplish and how we plan to accomplish it throughout the year, making sure we put in places throughout the journey to refocus and reenergize.
Have a wonderful Shabbos!