If You See Me Taken From You
Eliyahu's condition for the double portion teaches that Torah takes root when a student learns to toil as though his teacher were no longer beside him.
Elisha asked for a double portion of Eliyahu's spirit, and Eliyahu answered: if you see me as I am taken from you, it will be so. The Yismach Yisroel brings the explanation of the Tzror HaMor. If you regard me as already taken from you, so that when a doubt arises you do not say, I will go to Eliyahu and he will explain it, then the double portion will be yours. When a student knows that his teacher is not standing beside him and that he must toil day and night with all his strength, he comes to grasp everything. The Tzror HaMor reads the same lesson in the Midrash on Koheles: words of Torah endure in a person when their masters are gathered away from him. The Rebbe uses this to explain why the students of Rebbi Shimon bar Yochai spoke of his passing: they were training themselves to toil alone.
Source: Yismach Yisroel, Bereishis, Lech Lecha (on Melachim II 2:9–10, quoting the Tzror HaMor)
It is easy to ask the answer the moment a question arises, from a chavrusa, a rav, or a search box. This week, when you hit a hard line in your learning, give it ten honest minutes on your own first. Read it again slowly, look at the commentary, write down what you think it means. Only then ask. You will often find the answer yourself, and when you do ask, you will understand the reply far more deeply.