Devoted to the End
A man once came over to me and joyfully proclaimed, “Rabbi, in another few days, I will be making a siyum!” According to this man’s looks, he did not fit the mold of the typical Beit Hamidrash type. I assumed he was referring to a siyum of Mishnayot, or some short masechta. But he had me really stunned when he continued, his face beaming like a thousand-watt bulb, “I am about to complete the entire Shas!”
I had to know how he managed to learn the entire Shas, a difficult task for the best of men. This was his story:
Rabbi, I am a businessman. My business keeps me busy day and night, often taking me to the far ends of the globe, as I have branches throughout the world. But no matter where I am or what I am doing, I have set a specific time each day for Torah study, which I refuse to forego under any circumstances.
Often, the Torah shiur is far from my lodgings, or I am in a different time zone. Nevertheless, I do not allow my Torah study to suffer. I am in contact with a rabbi who delivers a shiur, and I participate in the shiur via telephone, sometimes even when I am in flight. Many times, I have to sacrifice sleep due to time differences, but I never relinquish the daily shiur. In this manner, I merited completing the entire Shas.”
I learned an invaluable lesson from this man. When a person perceives Torah as a precious gift and makes it his top priority, learning without compromise, Hashem helps him, and he can even succeed in completing the entire Shas.
