Strengthen Yourself With Torah in Hard Times
As conditions worsened in the war years, the Rav told his talmidim to grow stronger in Torah, not weaker.
In the war years, when the danger around Nitra grew and it was tempting to loosen the daily order of the yeshiva, the Rav insisted on the opposite. Those who recount his words say that he told the bochurim that in times like these they had to strengthen themselves doubly with the koach haTorah, the strength that Torah gives, and not let themselves weaken. He backed the words with discipline, and was strict with those who came late to the beis medrash. His reasoning was simple. When the world is unstable, the fixed hours of learning are what hold a person steady, and a yeshiva that lets its schedule slide in a crisis teaches that Torah is for calm days only. Strength, in his view, did not come from waiting for conditions to improve. It came from the learning itself, kept on time and kept with seriousness, especially when it was hardest to do so.
Source: Dei'ah veDibur, "Sparks of Glory" (HaRav Shmuel Dovid Ungar, zt'l, the Rov of Nitra), 3 Nissan 5773 (14 March 2013) (his instruction to the yeshiva in 1944; printed source for the exact words not traced)
When life is unsettled, the first thing to go is usually the regular hour you set aside to learn or daven. This week, pick one fixed time for learning, even fifteen minutes, and keep it on the busiest and most stressful day, not only on the easy ones. Arrive on time, put the phone away and begin. A steady hour kept under pressure gives you something solid to stand on, and over weeks it becomes the part of the day you rely on most.