To Be Heedful of Yeshiva Money
Rabbenu once said, in a talk, that anyone who takes food from
the yeshiva without permission is considered to be stealing
— to the degree that he is invalid for testimony! When
he heard that some of the students refused to allow a
newcomer to join their dormitory room, he also came down very
harshly against them and said it was altogether forbidden. He
further said that the donors who had given money for the
yeshiva had likewise empowered the hanholoh to make
decisions concerning the use of the facilities as they saw
fit.
In general, he often spoke about vittur, not insisting
on having one's way but giving in to others. He declared that
he never saw anyone lose out from letting another have his
way. (Hi Sichosi)
About Reading Kosher Newspapers
A young student once came to him asking for guidance. Maran
later related, "The first thing I did was to have him
resolve, by a handshake, not to read newspapers." And here,
he was referring even to the best of them . . . This was
before he even began advising him how to study. Only after
the student agreed to keep this stipulation, did he launch
into a program for studying. This was Maran's educational
approach. (HaRav S. Markowitz)
Guidance to a Tat [Help Fund for Yeshiva Students]
Treasurer
When the yeshiva used to appoint treasurers for the Tat fund,
we would present them to him. He would invariably say, "Know
that you will, in the future, go on to build your own homes.
You must learn how to be sensitive to your fellow man. This
is part of your education!" He instructed them in other
matters, but the main thrust of his words was that these
treasurers train themselves in compassion and empathy.
(HaRav S. Markowitz)
Scholarships? Depending to Whom
Although he was concerned for the entire yeshiva world, he
was primarily concerned for his own yeshiva, and if he showed
leniency towards other institutions, in his own establishment
he was strict. A person once told me that in his own yeshiva,
he offered special stipends to the more studious students in
order to promote a higher degree of study. I went to Maran to
ask his opinion on this matter and he immediately said: "Here
— no!" One must not make money an incentive for
learning. And this was his attitude in many things concerning
his own yeshiva: He was very precise and particular in
maintaining the most perfect standard. He sacrificed a great
deal to this end. (HaRav S. Markowitz)
His Concern for a Ben Yeshiva
We were once standing and waiting to enter and speak with the
Rosh Yeshiva about urgent matters. Together with us was a
father with his son of yeshiva ketanoh age who wanted
to receive Maran's blessing since the boy had lost his zest
for learning.
We waited while the two entered before us. We waited a
quarter of an hour, half an hour — and they still had
not emerged. Finally, after almost an hour inside, they came
out, the father in tears [of emotion] and the boy,
smiling.
The father told how they had entered and the boy had
confessed that he no longer had any desire to study.
"What are they studying now in your yeshiva?" Maran asked
him.
"Maseches Kiddushin," was the reply.
"Nu, come let's see if you know how to learn," said Maran. He
went over to the bookcase and took out two gemoras,
one for each of them. Maran told him to begin reading and he
heard him out, stopping him occasionally to say in his sweet
manner, "I see that you do understand what you've
learned."
The boy finished reading the gemora text and Maran had
him reading Rashi, making sure that he understood,
encouraging him periodically. They sat thus for close to an
hour until the boy discovered a new zest in the material.
This was very important to Maran, for in his eyes, someone
who was no longer interested in learning was like someone
dangerously ill, whose life had to be saved . . . (HaRav
S. Deutsch)
Questions from the Gemora
Maran said that one had to pose questions like those of the
Ketzos Hachoshen and HaGaon R' Akiva Eiger, and not to
open up the gemora and begin asking generally, "Why
does it say this?" and "Why does it say that?"
R' Akiva Eiger bases his questions upon other sources and
proofs, and not just, "What is the logic behind . . . "
(HaRav A. Garbuz)
Regarding Driving a Car
Maran maintained that driving a car was a life-risking
proposition. He categorically forbade his students from
learning to drive or to rent a car.
"Listen," he said, "I am an old, sick man. I don't know how
much longer I will live, whether a day or a month. But I am
leaving a will, and I am telling you that if any student
begins to take driving lessons, don't keep him for even a
day! It is forbidden to keep him in yeshiva! He has no
business learning to drive; he has to learn Torah, that is
his obligation. Lernen, lernen, lernen."
Review
"Every person should institute a schedule of review, whether
it be after each perek, after every twenty
dapim or upon the completion of a masechta. He
should not go on to another masechta until he knows
that one thoroughly, and then he should go on and learn a
second masechta, and on until he becomes very fluent
in an entire seder or two. Without thorough knowledge,
one cannot achieve any degree of proficiency in Torah
study."
Review always held a major place in his approach. By
reviewing each masechta many times, it becomes
entrenched in one's memory, to remain there ever after. There
was no limit to review. As the Vilna Gaon said to R' Chaim
Volozhiner: All your days can be spent in study and
review.
In each successive zman, a student should set aside at
least half an hour to review what he learned in the previous
zman. (Michtavim Uma'amarim)
To Learn with the Primary Rishonim and the Great
Acharonim
In his Michtavim Uma'amarim, Part I, Siman 47,
Maran writes:
"The primary method is to study gemora, Rashi,
Tosafos. If one encounters difficulties, if one is
studying with a partner, then working on it together usually
clarifies things. One should look up the works of
Rishonim, like Ramban, Rashbo, the Ran and the Rif. In
masechtos that have Shitah Mekubetzes, one
should also look up that. [In summary, just look at] the more
famous Rishonim mentioned above and suffice with
that.
"To be sure, one should study the prominent acharonim
like the Pnei Yehoshua and HaRav Akiva Eiger, but not
to pay attention to what the roshei yeshivas of the latter
generation said, even from the previous generation, for one
cannot rely on that. Instead, one should study the above
commentaries."
Maran's grandson, HaRav Ben Zion Bergman shlita,
related that in his early years he used to study with Maran
every day when he returned from yeshiva for the afternoon
break. When he reached shiur alef in yeshiva
gedola, they studied the chapter, Naarah
Hameorasah, and dwelled at length upon the innovations on
it.
Maran asked him, "What did they say about the words of the
Ran concerning `Nisroknah?" R' Ben Zion expounded on
all the commentaries he had heard on the subject.
Rabbenu listened, and then said, "All that you need to know
from what you just said is that the Ran says thus and the
Rashba challenges it and replies as he does. The reply is not
quite satisfactory, however, and can be reconciled in this
manner. But more than that, you need not know at all!"
Rabbenu did the same with regards to his seforim. He
made sure that no copies of his own Avi Ezri be on the
yeshiva bookshelves, so that the students would not study
from them. He said that after the shiur, the students
could study from them in order to review.
HaRav A.V. once asked him why he printed his works
altogether, if he did not want people to study from them. He
replied they were designed for maggidei shiur, or if
someone wished to thoroughly clarify a certain subject. But
he did not recommend studying from his works on a regular
basis. (Hi Sichosi)
The Teachings of the Rishonim Bring the Greatest
Pleasure
When we were learning Nedorim, he used to read aloud
the longest passages of the Ran, and we waited until he
finished. Then he would look up and not notice any particular
signs of enthusiasm on our faces. He would turn to us,
puzzled, and ask, "Doesn't this interest you? It is so
geshmack!"
Everything connected to Torah was like a precious gem, even
if it was not a particularly scintillating innovation. Every
question and resolution of the Ran was an entire world!
(HaRav M. Eichenstein)
Going for Chizuk
A certain orphaned yeshiva student frequently went to
different yeshivos for the purpose of chizuk, as was
an accepted practice. His widowed mother, however, was afraid
that this wandering about would interfere with his chances
for a good shidduch. She asked someone to inquire by
the Rosh Yeshiva if her protest was valid or if she had
nothing to worry about.
I went in and presented the question. Maran asked if the
student really learned well during this chizuk, if he
saw blessing in his study. If that was the case, he told me
to tell the mother that she had nothing to fear. Her son
would find blessing wherever he studied, if that was what he
felt was good and beneficial for him, no problems would
result. (HaRav B. D. Diskin)
Does Preserving Life Supersede Yeshiva?
A father who suffered from heart disease had a son who
cleaved to Torah and who went to study in a yeshiva. His
father was set against it, for he wanted his son to have a
career in the army. When he went so far as to say that his
disappointment was shortening his life, the son was at a loss
what to do.
I went in to Maran and presented the student's dilemma. Maran
thought the problem over very seriously and then said, "If
the father wanted his son to study some trade, the question
would be valid. But the army represents hefkeirus,
unbridled freedom. The father has no right to take his son's
life and just waste it, abandon it to futility. There is no
question of kibbud av even if it appears to damage
him. [On the contrary,] in the merit of his son's Torah he
will live longer." (HaRav B. D. Diskin)
