Rabba and Rav Yosef were the two leading minds of the generation. They were the best of friends and so all the
rabbis were concerned for the day they would have to choose between them to
succeed the aging Rosh Yeshiva. But life
goes on and the dreaded day eventually arrived.
Knowing their particular strengths, the Sages decided to put the question
to them directly.
“Rav Yosef, your mind is like an encyclopaedia! Does it not make the most
sense to appoint you as the new head of the academy?”
“But then again, Rabba, you are able to analyze every topic in such a way
that is completely unparalleled. Perhaps
you should be our choice?”
אָמַר רַבִּי אָבִין
הַלֵּוִי: כׇּל הַדּוֹחֵק אֶת הַשָּׁעָה — שָׁעָה דּוֹחַקְתּוֹ. וְכׇל הַנִּדְחֶה
מִפְּנֵי הַשָּׁעָה — שָׁעָה נִדְחֵת מִפָּנָיו. מִדְּרַבָּה וְרַב יוֹסֵף. דְּרַב
יוֹסֵף סִינַי וְרַבָּה עוֹקֵר הָרִים, אִצְטְרִיכָא לְהוּ שַׁעְתָּא. שְׁלַחוּ
לְהָתָם: סִינַי וְעוֹקֵר הָרִים, אֵיזֶה מֵהֶם קוֹדֵם? שְׁלַחוּ לְהוּ: סִינַי
קוֹדֵם, שֶׁהַכֹּל צְרִיכִין לְמָרֵי חִטַּיָּא. אַף עַל פִּי כֵן לֹא קִבֵּל
עָלָיו רַב יוֹסֵף, דְּאָמְרִי לֵיהּ כַּלְדָּאֵי: מָלְכַתְּ תַּרְתֵּין שְׁנִין.
מְלַךְ רַבָּה עֶשְׂרִין וְתַרְתֵּין שְׁנִין, מְלַךְ רַב יוֹסֵף תַּרְתֵּין
שְׁנִין וּפַלְגָא. כֹּל הָנָךְ שְׁנֵי דִּמְלַךְ רַבָּה, אֲפִילּוּ אוּמָּנָא
לְבֵיתֵיהּ לָא קְרָא
Rabbi Avin HaLevi said: If one forces the moment and attempts to take
advantage of an undeserved opportunity, the moment forces him and he is pushed
aside. If one yields to the moment and relinquishes an opportunity that
presents itself, the moment yields to him. We learn this from the story of Rabba and Rav Yosef. Rav Yosef was Sinai, and Rabba was one who
uproots mountains. The moment arrived when they were needed. They sent the
following question there: Which takes precedence, Sinai or one who uproots
mountains? They responded to them: Sinai takes precedence, for everyone needs
the owner of the wheat. Nevertheless, Rav Yosef did not accept, as the Chaldeans
informed him: You will preside for only two years.Rabba went on to preside for twenty-two years. After he died, Rav Yosef
presided for two and a half years. And all those years that Rabba presided, Rav
Yosef did not even call a bloodletter to his home (to serve him).
We all have different learning styles and dispositions and each has its
advantages and disadvantages. Rav Yosef
was Sinai, meaning that he had encyclopedic knowledge of Torah. Rabba was an uprooter of mountains, meaning
that he had an incredible ability to analyze and scrutinize a concept. A colleague may have made the most rational
case imaginable in favour of a particular concept. But then along Rabbah would come and ‘uproot
the mountain,’ poking holes in the arguments and demonstrating the weaknesses
of the position.
We need both types of wisdom. The equivalent in the ivory tower are
contrasting professors. One knows
everything about anything. You can go to
them with any question and be sure that they will have an answer for you. The other might be nowhere near as well read,
but in their niche field, they are head and shoulders above the rest. They’ve analyzed the concepts
thoroughly. Because that’s the way their
minds work. They hone in on a matter of
ambiguity and, through their research, are able to provide clarity. Likewise, when you ask them a question about
another area of scholarship, even though they might know very little about the
subject, they will ask all the right questions to examine the issue through and
through.
That’s why Daf Yomi works for some learners but it doesn’t work for
others. Some people love the speed of
the initiative and are excited by the amount of material they are able to
cover. Others feel that they’ve covered
so much ground that they are able to recall very little of the material. They would prefer to spend a week or two on
each page of the Talmud. Debating which approach
is preferable is futile, because it’s a case of ‘different strokes for
different folks.’
In yeshiva, the Talmud is studied at varied paces at different times of the
day. You might go a little more in-depth
in the morning, but cover more ground in the afternoon. After a number of years, yeshiva bochurim
figure out what makes the most sense for them personally. That does not imply that the other approach
is wholly discounted. Rather, one
acknowledges how to focus one’s efforts.
And of course, this dichotomy of learning styles is not an either/or
question. Most of us fit somewhere along
the spectrum between the two.
We’re now at the end of the first tractate of the Talmud, Brachos. For some, the experience has felt like a
crazy whirlwind. They can’t imagine
continuing at the same pace for seven years.
For others, it has felt so refreshing to wake up each day and cover new
ground. They’re proud of their achievement,
they can look at the first volume of the Talmud and say, ‘I’ve read that book’
(even if they should be saying, ‘I’ve learned through that sefer’).
Neither feeling is more or less kosher.
Only you know what works for you.
If you feel it’s time to slow down, then the most important thing is
never to go a day without learning Torah.
Daf Yomi is not just known for its speed, but also for its disciplinary
effect. You are forced to allocate time
to learning every single day, because if you were to miss a couple of days, it
would be very difficult to catch up. If
Daf Yomi’s not your thing, you need to find other methods to ensure that no day
goes by when you are not devoted to new Torah learning.
A hearty Mazal Tov to you if you’ve made it through the first volume of the
Babylonian Talmud. Likewise, if you’ve
learned something new each day with DaF Yo.Me, new Torah ideas which you were
not engaged with previously, then Mazal Tov to you too. You can proudly call yourself a card-carrying
member of the biggest global book club.
You may not have read the entire Daf, but you’re keeping up with the
best of them. Daily learning takes
incredible commitment of time and effort.
Your life becomes richer and you will be rewarded immensely by Heaven. May your commitment and enthusiasm never wane
as we begin our journey into the next exciting tractate of the Talmud!
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