Wednesday nights - Rav Benzion's Tanya shiur..........Please continue to daven for the good health of the Rebbe (Yechiel Michel ben Devorah Leah) and Rebbetzin (Feiga bas Sarah).

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Most Important Shiur 4/4

We have arrived at the fourth of what the Rebbe called "the most important shiurim I have given". See here for the first, second and third, in this mini-series.

Unlike the first three, this shiur was given after Succos. Hence, it does not have any connection to the Yomim Tovim and is solely devoted to avodah in the "rest-of-the-year" kind of way.

A seemingly simple question was posed: "What is the proper way to learn Gemara?" and in the Rebbe's inimitable and endearing style, he used this basic query to jump-start a shiur about the fundamentals of personal avodah in general, as well as the some principles about limud haTorah specifically.

The Rebbe dispels many of the common attitudes we have about learning Torah and replaces them with a rich, exciting and attainable approach to the most basic and fundamental mitzvah we have been given: learning Torah. We are meant to spend as much time as we possibly can fulfilling the mitzvah of Talmud Torah. It takes precedence over pretty much anything else. Yet, many, if not all, of the ideas contained in this shiur are lost on most people.

Additional note: It was this shiur which prompted the Rebbe to exclaim that these were the most important shiurim. Also, the Rebbe speaks about the need to recalculate our approach to learning often, and here we finally have an entire 30 minutes exclusively on that topic.

DOWNLOAD (approx. 30 minutes)


Some of the points in the shiur:

Individuality in Avodas Hashem
Derech Halimud
Three-point approach to "proper" learning according to one's own gifts
Teshuvah in order to learn
"Connected" Learning (Learning b'dveikus)
How does X, Y and Z bring me closer to Hashem?
The importance of the learning itself
Wanting the Torah to form us

"I believe it is a grave offense to the Ribono Shel Olam when you try to take everybody and push them into one [mold]. Each one of us is unique, each one of us thinks uniquely. Each one of us has contributions to make that are consistent with the way our minds work."

"Our approach to learning must [reflect] that [Hashem] has poured Himself [so to speak] into the Torah. We are learning how to be mekurav to the Ribono Shel Olam."

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