Half the Time, Full Concentration

Rav Schorr urged his talmidim to learn with all their strength and with all available time. He said, “Learning half the time with full concentration is better than learning all the time with half concentration, because the latter is not truly learning.” He also asked, “How can a bochur yawn?” since learning demands interest and enthusiasm. He drew a lesson from the Gemara’s reading of the verse that says Benayahu ben Yehoyada killed a lion on a snowy day, namely that Benayahu learned all of Toras Kohanim on a short winter day. A man fighting a lion on cold, slippery ground must give the fight his whole attention, he explained, and so must a scholar who takes on a difficult study.