Daily Chidush: There's So Much Torah teachings, What Do I choose and Who To Learn From?

0:01I hope you had an amazing week. There was a great question posted in the group yesterday about learning Torah. And really, with all the teachings that are out there in the world, what should we learn? What should we do? Which videos should we watch? Which rabbis should we listen to? As it says in Pirkei Avot, Chapter 2, Mishnah 8, "Marbeh Torah, Marbeh Chaim," which means that the more Torah someone has, the more life they have. Because Hashem is obviously, this is the way we connect to Hashem. And the more study, the more wisdom. So now, we have to ask ourselves, how, which Torah do we learn? I mean, there's just so much Torah. Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai says in a Mishnah, actually in chapter 9, he says... which means that the more Torah someone has, the more life they have. Because Hashem is obviously, this is the way we connect to Hashem. And the more study, the more wisdom. So now, we have to ask ourselves, how, which Torah do we learn? I mean, there's just so much Torah. Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai says in a Mishnah, actually in chapter 9, he says, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, one of the greatest sages that ever lived, says, if you have studied much Torah, do not take credit for yourself, because that is what you were created to do. So now we understand already at this point, if we're asking this wonderful question of which Torah do we learn, then obviously we know that this is the purpose of creation. This is the reason why we were created, to learn Torah, to fulfill the will of Hashem. Now, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai had five primary disciples. One of them was Rabbi Eliezer ben Horkenos. Rabbi Eliezer ben Horkenos says many Mishnayot, many teachings, but before we go into what his teachings were...

1:27then obviously we know that this is the purpose of creation. This is the reason why we were created, to learn Torah, to fulfill the will of Hashem. Now, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai had five primary disciples. One of them was Rabbi Eliezer ben Horkenos. Rabbi Eliezer ben Horkenos says many Mishnayot, many teachings, but before we go into what his teachings were, let's just listen to who he is. What's his actual story? There was one time a young man, age 28, according to my memory, that his father's name was Horkenos. And his father was a very, very wealthy man. And Eliezer was his son. Let's just listen to who he is. What's his actual story? There was one time a young man, age 28, according to my memory, whose father's name was Horkenus. And his father was a very, very wealthy man. And Eliezer was his son. And Eliezer was working on the farm, working for his father, but then one day his father sees that his son is crying. He says, "Son, why are you crying? Why are you crying? Is the work too hard for you? Did I work you too hard?" He goes, "No, no, Abba. It's not the work. It's that I want to go learn Torah. That's what I want to do with my life."

2:41father says, "Listen, my son, if you really want to become a big talmid chacham, or you know, a sage, you would have had to start earlier. You would have had to start when you were much younger. You're already too old—28 years old. You know, it's too much." Obviously, we learn later on that one of Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus's disciples was Rabbi Akiva, and he only learned the Hebrew alphabet at the age of 40. But nonetheless... Horkinos, Eliezer's father, said, "You're too old," and walked away. Eliezer continued to cry and cry to Hashem, "Hashem, please give me the Torah, please give me Your Torah." As it says, the gates of heaven are always open for tears, always, despite all the Hashem, all of the decrees that could be in Shamayim and all types of things that could not be, you know, any good for us. When it's a negative decree, obviously, but when we cry to Hashem, we open all of the gates. Eliezer cried his heart out to Hashem to send him Torah, so Hashem sent him the prophet. things that could not be good for us, when it's a negative decree obviously. But when we cry to Hashem, we open all of the gates. He cried his heart out to Hashem to send him Torah, so Hashem sent him the prophet, who on many occasions

3:59would always pose as someone else. No one would know he's actually Elijah the Prophet. So he came to him as one of these poor men and he asked him, "Son, why are you crying?" He says, "Because I want to learn Torah. That's all I want to do." And he says, "If you want to learn Torah, go to the great sage Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai. He's in Jerusalem." Rabbi Eliezer, who at this point is Eliezer only... So excited that someone acknowledged his will to learn Torah, that someone is saying that this is even possible, he left everything on the spot, didn't say goodbye, didn't say anything, and just went and journeyed all the way to Jerusalem. He goes and he meets Rabban Yochanan. He says, "Kavod HaRav, I want to learn Torah." Rabban Yochanan says, "Okay, every day I'll sit down with you and I'll teach you one of my teachings." So excited, he started to learn. He started to learn, and after eight days, Rabban Yochanan was teaching him and noticed that there was a bad smell coming out of the mouth of Eliezer, his student. So he asked the people who were hosting Eliezer, "Well, what are you feeding him? What are you feeding him?" And they said, "No, K'vod HaRav, we're not feeding him. He tells us that he's eating with you every day."

5:29says no, he's not eating with me. Where is he sleeping? He says, well, he sleeps in this room, and he doesn't say anything. He goes, he learns with you. He comes back once in a while. We see him reaching for something behind his pillow, putting it in his mouth, and that's it. He goes and he goes back to learning. Because I want to see, he goes into his room. They move the pillow and they see that there's a box of sand and sand people sand Abel Eliezer because he did not want to, you know, be uncomfortable for anyone, make anyone uncomfortable to feed him or to cook for him or to do anything for him. And to not get in the way of his Torah, he was eating sand every day for eight days. Eight days! If we ate sand for two seconds, I think we'd cry for a week and... So Rabban Yochanan saw how serious Eliezer was, and he said to him when he met him next time, "From now on, you're going to sit down, you're going to eat with me." So every day he would teach him, and some years passed. The brothers of Rabbi Eliezer, who didn't know where he was, said to their father, Hyrcanus, "Father, it's not fair that Eliezer, our brother who left years ago, is going to inherit

6:57quarter of your property and everything you have once you pass. He's not working; he's not doing anything. He left, who knows where he is. You should remove him from the will. And Holkenos, who also did not know where his son was, said, "Yes, you're right. But like a good Jew, I have to go to my Rav and ask him for permission, ask him if this is a wise thing to do." "Okay, father. We trust you. We respect you." And... We'll wait for you to come back. And Horkenus goes and journeys to Jerusalem to see his Rav. Who is his Rav? Rabbi Yochanan. And he arrives at the home of Rabbi Yochanan, and he sees there's a big gathering of people, and every one of them is a sage greater than another. All these holy people are sitting there and talking Torah, and Rabbi Yochanan noticed that Horkenus came and And he knew that his son probably did not know that he had been learning, that his father did not know that his son had been learning with him. So he told Rabbi Eliezer, "Rabbi Eliezer, why don't you give us one of your Divrei Torah? Why don't you tell us one of the things that you learned?" And Rabbi Eliezer says, "No, K'vod HaRav, there's really nothing."

8:21I can teach. I'm like a drop of water. I don't, I don't know; whatever you give me is what I have. And Rabbi Yochanan says, "No, you're not like a drop of water. In fact, you are like a river where if we put a drop of water in you, you make it into something completely different and elaborate on it and toil with it and develop it into something very special." But maybe, maybe you're just shy that I'm here and you don't want to say your divrei Torah in front of your Rav. So, I'm gonna leave. He says, "No, no, no, Kavod HaRav, no, I don't want you to leave, chas v'shalom." And he stands up and he starts saying divrei Torah, and the father is seeing his son and... develop it into something very special. Maybe you're just shy that I'm here, and you don't want to say your divrei Torah in front of your Rav, so I'm gonna leave. He says, "No, no, no, Kavod HaRav, I don't want you to leave, chas v'shalom." And he stands up and he starts saying divrei Torah. The father is seeing his son and... speaking divrei Torah and everyone is listening to wisdom that has never been heard since the beginning of the world. As the Mishnah, Pirkei Avot, chapter 2, Mishnah 11, Rabbi Yochanan says about his student, Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus, "bor sud she'eino me'abed tipa,"

9:41Horkanus was like a cemented cistern that loses not a drop, meaning that everything you teach him, he keeps and retains, but he also develops it and makes it stronger. So, Horkanus was watching his son, and then his son sees him and says, "Father, what are you doing here?" And he says, "My son, I came here..." because I thought that you were just wasting your life and that I was here to ask the Rav to allow me and permit me to remove you from my will. But in fact, I realized that you have fulfilled the purpose of Hashem. You have become a giant in Torah and I'm going to do the opposite and remove your brothers from the will and give it all to you. And Rabbi Eliezer ben Hurkanos says, Father, I already have everything. I don't need any money. I already have Torah. I have Chaim. I have life. They say that the Chiddushim that Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus said throughout that night continued all the way until the next morning, and the level of Kedusha that he was delivering was so significant that he had the same light that Moshe Rabbeinu had when he came down from Mount Sinai.

11:11from Mount Sinai. This is the level of Torah that Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus got to, even though he started very late. As we said in one of the other Chidushim, there was one time one of his students, Rabbi Akiva, one of Rabbi Eliezer's students, Rabbi Akiva, came to him and he said, "Why didn't you come visit me, Rabbi Akiva? Why didn't you come visit me? In many years I have so much Torah to teach you." how much Torah do you have? He says if all of the ocean was ink and all of the trees were pens and all of the land was paper, it would not be enough to write down the Torah that I know. And what I know is not even a percentage point of what's really out there and what's really available to us. See here, we see how big the Torah is and

12:11This is very intimidating because we're not Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus. Let's face it, we're not. We're not Rabbi Akiva. We're not even worthy to be one of their nails that they throw out after they cut. But we do have the Torah. And we do have the teachings of Rabbi Eliezer. And the beauty of it is that in their teachings, they teach us exactly what to learn and how to learn. And in the Oral Torah, their students, their disciples, and they themselves are actually teaching us many, many things about the Torah. As it says in Pirkei Avot, Chapter 2, Mishnah 19, it says, Rabbi Elazar, this is a different person. Rabbi Elazar says, be diligent in the study of Torah, and you know what to answer to a heretic. Because as we obviously all know, there are many heretics in the world, so you need to get to a point where you are so comfortable with your Torah and...

13:13Translation: Rabbi Elazar says, be diligent in the study of Torah and know what to answer to a heretic. Because, as we obviously all know, there are many heretics in the world, so you need to get to a point where you are so comfortable with your Torah and... That if there's ever a heretic that comes to you, you can answer them. You can prove to them that God exists and you can feel Him. You can prove to them that the Torah is divine, and you can prove it in any way you want, whether it's scientifically, rationally, or any other way that they can imagine. You can prove the Torah. That's the level we have to reach. And lastly, this Mishnah says, know before whom you toil and know that your employer, obviously meaning Hashem, can be relied upon to pay you the wage of your labor. Remember, all of this Torah that you're learning is for Hashem; it's Hashem's will, and you can rely on Hashem. and know that your employer, obviously meaning Hashem, can be relied upon to pay you the wage of your labor. Remember, all of this Torah that you're learning is for Hashem; it's Hashem's will, and you can rely on Hashem.

14:14doesn't change his mind, he doesn't change his opinion. He just told us in another Mishnah that that's the reason why you were created, so you must toil. But to answer the question of what Torah that we learn, Rabbi Tarfon in Pirkei Avot, Chapter 2, Mishnah 21 answers us... are not required to complete the task, yet you are not free to withdraw from it. If you have studied much Torah, they give you great reward. This, my friends, is the key. Finishing the Torah, completing the Torah, is impossible because even if you get to the level of Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus... with all of the Torah that he had, the world could not even contain enough of it. It still was not everything. So the imagination that you could ever complete anything, even if you've read it a million times, not a thousand, not ten thousand, a million times you've read the Gemara, you're still not going to finish. You're still not going to finish. There's no such thing as finishing the Torah. What you are paid for by this employer, this holy employer, Hashem Yitbarach, is for toiling.

15:30for studying hard, for putting your life on the line to make sure that it becomes a permanent part of your life. As the Mishnah continues, your employer can be relied upon to pay your wage for your labor, but be aware that the reward of the righteous will be given in the World to Come, just as it says... you've studied much and you get great reward. Right before it, it says, "Don't worry, you're not going to complete the task, but you're also not free to withdraw from it." Meaning that just because you can't complete it doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. You have to do it. You must do it. This is the reason why you were created. But remember, the key here is to know that this is Hashem Yitbarach. Employee is going to pay us, but the reward is going to be in the World to Come. Yes, there are rewards in this world where He gives us parnassah. He gives us food. Ah, He gives us, you know, sustenance, and He gives us good health and all the rewards in this world. But most importantly, when someone's learning Torah, they must realize that they're learning for Olam HaBa, to prepare themselves for the greatest Olam HaBa they could possibly imagine. And what Torah do we learn? What Torah are they talking about? And...

16:46They're not talking about learning Torah of a few stories here and there, and it's nice and it's pleasing. They want you to toil with Torah. They want you to learn the things that shake your heart. If you're listening to a lecture and the rabbi is telling you things that are nice, but they're not really shaking you up, they're not touching your heart, they're not making you do teshuva every day. Not once. Every day you have to do teshuva. If your teaching is not shaking your heart, you're learning the wrong Torah. You're not learning the one that you're supposed to. You have to be shaken up. You have to be shaken up so it is not just a Torah that you're learning to gather wisdom, but rather to gather enough information to change your life, to shake your heart, shake your soul, and change your life, so when you do arrive at Ulam Abba, you have something to look forward to. So my dear tzaddikim, when you're learning Torah, make sure that it's shaking you up. to gather enough information to change your life, to shake your heart, shake your soul, and change your life, so when you do arrive at Olam HaBa, you have something to look forward to. So my dear tzaddikim, when you're learning Torah, make sure that it's shaking you up.

17:54Don't feel bad if it's not shaking you up. Some people connect to certain rabbis, and some people don't connect to certain rabbis. One rabbi could be, you know, a great mind, but perhaps you're not connecting to him. On the other hand, someone could be a much lesser mind. He's not as big of a genius, he's not as big of a talmid chacham as the other rabbi, but the way he talks, the way he delivers the message, the way he explains things touches your heart. That, my friends... what you need to learn. As far as the basics of what to learn, most importantly, each week we are commanded by the Shulchan Aruch, which is the book of laws, that we must learn the parashat hashavua three times, meaning that you have to read the parasha twice and then the third time with the commentary. The commentary you must make sure is Rashi's commentary. This is Rashi; we cannot learn Torah without Rashi. We don't understand anything without his commentary. Obviously, if you want to elaborate and add the Rambam, the Ramban, and Tosafot, and so on, please do. meaning that you have to read the parasha twice and then the third time with the commentary, and the commentary you must make sure it's Rashi's commentary. This is Rashi. We cannot learn Torah without Rashi; we don't understand anything. This is commentary by Rashi. Obviously, if you want to elaborate and add the Rambam or the Ramban and Tosafot and so on, please do.

19:00But the first thing you have to learn is the Torah, the five books of Moses, at a minimum. You have to learn that each week, the Parashat HaShavua. Obviously, the next thing after that, you must learn Musar every day. You have to learn ethics. You have to learn how to become a human being—not a human being like this world has today where they're half animals, half man. I'm talking about a human being like Hashem created. but Sefer HaChinuch about Anokhi Hashem created us in the image of man, image of man meaning holy. So we have to act holy; we have to know what holy even means. So you have to learn Mussar, the Mussar that Hashem taught us through His sages. So this is something every day: five minutes a day, ten minutes a day, an hour a day, however much time you have. Next thing is, once you've gotten very comfortable with... the parashat Shavua and the midrashim, the explanations, the commentary of what actually transpired beyond the literal. Then you have to start learning the teachings of the sages because that is the highest level of toiling in Torah. So you have three major things here; obviously, there are many other things. The last part is being halachot.

20:19The laws of Torah. Each day, learn one halacha. Learn one new law. Whether it's a Shabbat law, or a kashrut law, or anything else. Learn one law each day. Small little law. Each day, okay, today I know, okay, I'm not allowed to eat milk and meat. Great, you learned your law, move next. Go back to parashat hashavua, go back to Mussar, go back to the Gemara. But this is a lot of Torah every day. So, obviously, you have to manage your time very, very well. You have to be very disciplined. You have to make sure that you don't waste even a second. A second, you know, watching nonsense TV and doing things that are just wasting your life. Why? Because, as we said, the purpose of creation is for you to learn Torah. The reason why you were even created was for you to come learn Torah. Men are obligated on a much higher level than women, but... Don't misunderstand this. Women are also obligated to learn Torah because they're going to be the foundation of the home. They have to learn enough to teach the children until the children have teachers and so on. But they have to learn all the laws of Shabbat, the basic halachot of how to run a home, education, kashrut, taharat mishpacha, family purity, and modesty. Obviously, modesty is at least 60% of the mitzvot that a woman has to do. So there's a lot to learn, my friends.

21:43But the key for Baalei Teshuva, for converts, is the last thing I'm going to say. The key thing, aside from the teachers and the teachings touching your heart, you have to obviously get into things that touch your heart. But the key and the most important thing that you do when you learn Torah is to remember, the only reason you're learning Torah is because Hashem commanded you to do so. not because you're trying to gather wisdom, not because you're trying to give lectures one day, not because you want fame and fortune, not because you even want reward. You're learning Torah l'shma. You're learning Torah purely because Hashem commanded you to do so and created you just for that purpose. Everything else is secondary. Be'ezrat Hashem, you all have Shabbat Shalom, a lot of Torah, and remember, Hashem loves you, Hashem wants you to succeed, and He's going to help you in every single step that you take towards the right direction. And remember, Hashem loves you, Hashem wants you to succeed, and He's going to help you in every single step that you take towards the right direction.