Who Can Become a Torah Scholar?

1:20That's it. In order to know Torah, whether they end up becoming a real Talmid Chacham or not is not necessarily an aspiration for them. They just want to know as much Torah as possible. Why? Because they want to serve HaKadosh Baruch Hu. So they wake up in the morning with excitement to learn Torah. Not excitement to go make money. Not excitement to go sell baseball cards or play with baseball cards or play basketball or play in a band or write articles for some newspaper. No. They're aspiring to learn Torah constantly. At every moment that they have, their ideal of fun is to learn more Torah. Their idea of a good time is to learn more Torah. Their idea of vacation is to learn Torah. Talmidei Chachamim, when they go on vacation, you know what they do? They learn Torah. That's what they do on vacation. So yeah, they take the family to some place. I don't know, they go to some country, to the mountains, to hills, whatever. So the family can have fun, the kids can have fun, there's toys, there's friends, there's whatever, all types of kosher fun to do. And they can have peace of mind. To do what? To go open a nice Gemara and learn for the next eight hours straight.

2:29without the headaches of the boss, without the headaches of the mortgage, without the headaches of the friends, without the headaches of anything, to simply have peace and quiet to learn more Torah. Which means if you want to be a Talmid Chacham, you have to chase Torah like you would chase gold treasure. That will give you a chance. not a con, for sure a chance of being a talmid chacham when you are simply chasing Torah at every moment. No one has to convince you; no one has to sell you anything. You want it, and you're doing everything for it. You are literally willing to sacrifice your life in order to learn another minute of Torah. That will give you a chance of possibly being a talmid chacham, possibly. But as far as a person who just likes to study, he also likes big houses, nice convertible sports cars, a good $30,000 to $40,000 watch on his left hand, and maybe a nice diamond bracelet on his right. He wears nice Fendi glasses that cost $600 to $700.

3:56Only wears ties that are brand name. Must be fit, so he goes to the gym for at least an hour and a half a day, ensuring his body is nice and slim like a Greek statue. Shoes cannot be older than two and a half months, but if there's a scratch on them, they are immediately discarded. If he doesn't have those things, he's constantly aspiring to acquire them. Anytime he's free, he looks at the magazine of what's the next new fashion, what's the next sport, who's the richest guy in the world, who's making the biggest deals, and when he's on his extra time, on his fun time, he's checking the stock market, he's checking finances, he's checking fashion, he's checking everything, but he's not checking Torah. But he likes to learn Torah, he likes to come to a shiur, he likes the mental stimulation. That guy will never ever be a Talmid Chacham. He may actually keep some mitzvot, but he'll never be a Talmid Chacham, even if his IQ is a thousand. He'll never be a Talmid Chacham because a Talmid Chacham is not just someone who knows Torah. It's someone who's applying it and someone who's chasing it constantly. There are plenty of people who know some Torah, but to be qualified as a Talmid Chacham, as Da'at Torah, is a life of Mesirut Nefesh.

5:12And it's simply toiling and toiling and toiling in Torah for the sake of Torah, not for the sake of being a talmid chacham. Becoming a talmid chacham is simply an outcome, an outcome that you get as a present from HaKadosh Baruch Hu for all your toil. It's not a guarantee, and it's definitely not something that just any average joe can do.