Learning the Torah in practical life - the challenge and its solution
Parasha and its implementation – Parashat Naso - Shavuot 5783
Rabbi Eliezer Haim Shenvald

On the eve of Shavuot “the time of the giving of our Torah” and on the eve of Shabbat 'Naso' we wish to examine how can we meet one of the most significant challenges of our generation: integrating the study of the Torah in a regular and regulated manner within our busy and demanding lifestyle. This is the only way to realize the value of the 'Torah in our everyday life', and to apply 'Torah from our Beit Midrash' everyday, as a 'Torah of Life'. Only through persistence in 'setting up regular Torah study times' will it be possible to integrate holiness and its values into daily life, to fill the 'spiritual batteries' and to be in a process of constant spiritual progress that 'carries' us upwards. Already in Parashat Bamidbar we found the commandment
שְׂא֗וּ אֶת־רֹאשׁ֙ כָּל־עֲדַ֣ת בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל
"Take a census of the whole Israelite company", and our Parasha also begins with נָשֹׂ֗א "Naso":
אנו מוציאים שבמקומות הרבה שהקדוש ברוך הוא אמר למשה שאו את ראש ... כי תשא את ראש ולמה כן אלא אמר הקב"ה למשה: משה כל מה שאתה יכול לרומם את האומה הזו רוממה שכאילו לי אתה רומם ...
"We find that in many places Hashem bestowed divine favor to Moshe... and why: Hashem said to Moshe all you can do is lift up this nation as you lift me up... (Pesikta Rabbati 10)
The question is not just a technical one; how to allocate the appropriate time for study within the tight and demanding schedule. It is a question about internal motivation that will stimulate the strong need to study the Torah, devote the necessary time to it, and succeed in meeting the challenge with regularity and perseverance.

The primary source of motivation is the 'Mitzvah of Learning Torah':
כָּל אִישׁ מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל חַיָּב בְּתַלְמוּד תּוֹרָה … בַּיּוֹם וּבַלַּיְלָה שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר "וְהָגִיתָ בּוֹ יוֹמָם וָלַיְלָה":
"Every Jewish man is obligated to study Torah… he must establish a fixed time for Torah study during the day and at night, as commands: " You shall think about it day and night" (Rambam Mishneh Torah- Torah Study 1:8)
This is not just about fulfilling an obligation, but also an understanding of the importance of studying the Torah as a component of serving Hashem in our daily routine. Some believe that this source of motivation is enough. Moreover, they believe that any other source may turn the study of the Torah into a study that is 'not for its own sake'. However, the Sages also considered additional sources as motivation, such as the study of areas of Torah in which the learner feels that he has a personal interest: spiritual areas of study that fulfill an inner spiritual need, or in which he has intellectual pleasure and a creative experience. On this they said:
אין אדם לומד תורה אלא ממקום שלבו חפץ שנאמר (תהלים א, ב) כי אם בתורת ה' חפצו
"A person can learn Torah only from a place in the Torah that his heart desires, as it is stated: But his delight is in the Torah of Hashem, i.e., his delight is in the part of the Torah that he wishes to study". (Avodah Zara 19a:5)
לא ישנה לו רבו אלא מסכת שהוא מבקש הימנו שאם ישנה לו מסכת אחרת אין מתקיימת
"A Rabbi will not change a tractate for him except a tractate that he asks for" (Rashi ibid). In other words, it is of great importance that the person studying is fully motivated in the subject that is being studied .
כָּל אֶחָד צָרִיךְ לַעֲסֹק בָּעֵסֶק שֶׁלּוֹ, בְּמַה שֶּׁיֵּשׁ לוֹ עַל זֶה הֲכָנָה, וּבְיִחוּד הַדָּבָר בתורה מעיד על קשר מסויים הלימוד  
"Each one should be engaged in his own business, in what he has the preparation for, and in particular the word in the Torah indicates a certain connection to the study" (Orot Torah 9-1). Discovering a matter in a certain field of the Torah indicates a deep mental connection to it, therefore it is necessary to be attentive to it. The attraction to it will preserve the drive and its vitality and make it possible to meet the challenge regularly.
The 'Avnei Nezer' found it appropriate to emphasize the motivation that includes emotional and intellectual enjoyment:
"זכור אזכור מה ששמעתי קצת בני אדם טועין מדרך השכל בענין לימוד התורה הקדושה, ואמרו כי הלומד ומחדש חידושים ושמח ומתענג בלימודו אין זה לימוד התורה כל כך לשמה כמו אם היה לומד בפשטות, שאין לו מהלימוד שום תענוג והוא רק לשם מצוה, אבל הלומד ומתענג בלימודו הרי מתערב בלימודו גם הנאת עצמו, ובאמת זה טעות מפורסם, ואדרבא כי זהו עיקר מצות לימוד התורה להיות שש ושמח ומתענג בלימודו ואז דברי תורה נבלעין בדמו, ומאחר שנהנה מדברי תורה הוא נעשה דבוק לתורה"
"I will remember what I heard some people claim from the path of reason in the matter of studying the Holy Torah, and they said that the one who learns and brings up new explanations and is happy and enjoys his study, his study of the Torah is not so much for its own sake as if he were simply studying , without gaining any pleasure from the study itself but only for the sake of the Mitzvah. But the one who studies and is delighted by his study, his own pleasure also interferes in his study, and this is really a famous mistake, and rather because this is the main Mitzvah of studying the Torah to be happy and joyful and have delight in his study, and then the words of the Torah are swallowed up in his blood, and since he enjoys the words of the Torah, he becomes attached to the Torah." (By Way of Introduction - Eglei Tal).

Rabbi Kook ZT'L even saw a danger in the incompatibility of the fields of study with the mental inclinations of the learner:
 "יֶשְׁנָם שֶׁיָּצְאוּ לְתַרְבּוּת רָעָה, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁבְּדֶרֶךְ לִמּוּדָם וְהַשְׁלָמָתָם הָרוּחָנִית בָּגְדוּ בִּתְכוּנָתָם הָאִישִׁית הַמְיֻחֶדֶת. הֲרֵי שֶׁאֶחָד מֻכְשָׁר לְדִבְרֵי אַגָּדָה, וְעִנְיְנֵי הַהֲלָכָה אֵינָם לְפִי תְּכוּנָתוֹ לִהְיוֹת עָסוּק בָּהֶם בִּקְבִיעוּת, וּמִתּוֹךְ שֶׁאֵינוֹ מַכִּיר לְהַעֲרִיךְ אֶת כִּשְׁרוֹנוֹ הַמְיֻחָד הוּא מִשְׁתַּקֵּעַ בְּעִנְיְנֵי הֲלָכָה, כְּפִי הַמִּנְהָג הַמֻּרְגָּל, וְהוּא מַרְגִּישׁ בְּנַפְשׁוֹ נִגּוּד לְאֵלֶּה הָעִנְיָנִים שֶׁהוּא עוֹסֵק בָּהֶם, מִתּוֹךְ שֶׁהַהִשְׁתַּקְּעוּת בָּהֶם אֵינָהּ לְפִי טֶבַע כִּשְׁרוֹנוֹ הָעַצְמִי. אֲבָל אִם הָיָה מוֹצֵא אֶת תַּפְקִידוֹ וּמְמַלְּאוֹ, לַעֲסֹק בִּקְבִיעוּת בְּאוֹתוֹ הַמִּקְצעַ שֶׁבַּתּוֹרָה, הַמַּתְאִים לִתְכוּנַת נַפְשׁוֹ, אָז הָיָה מַכִּיר מִיָּד שֶׁהַרְגָּשַׁת הַנִּגּוּד שֶׁבָּאָה לוֹ בְּעָסְקוֹ בְּעִנְיְנֵי הַהֲלָכָה לֹא בָּאָה מִצַּד אֵיזֶה חִסָּרוֹן בְּעַצְמָם שֶׁל הַלִּמּוּדִים הַקְּדוֹשִׁים וְהַנְּחוּצִים הַלָּלוּ, אֶלָּא מִפְּנֵי שֶׁנַּפְשׁוֹ מְבַקֶּשֶׁת מִקְצעַ אַחֵר לִקְבִיעוּתָהּ בַּתּוֹרָה, וְאָז הָיָה נִשְׁאָר נֶאֱמָן בְּאפֶן נַעֲלֶה לִקְדֻשַּׁת הַתּוֹרָה, וְעוֹשֶׂה חַיִל בַּתּוֹרָה בַּמִּקְצוֹעַ הַשַּׁיָּךְ לוֹ, וכו'. אָמְנָם כֵּיוָן שֶׁאֵינוֹ מַכִּיר אֶת סִבַּת הַרְגָּשָׁתוֹ הַנִּגּוּדִית בְּלִמּוּד, וְהוּא מִתְגַּבֵּר נֶגֶד טִבְעוֹ, תֵּכֶף כְּשֶׁנִּפְתָּחִים לְפָנָיו אֵיזֶה דְּרָכִים שֶׁל הֶפְקֵר הוּא מִתְפָּרֵץ וְנַעֲשֶׂה שׂוֹנֵא וְעָר לַתּוֹרָה וְלָאֱמוּנָה" (שם פס' ו).
"There are those who left for a bad culture, because their way of learning and their spiritual integrity betrayed their unique personal characteristics. After all, one who is skilled in Aggadah, his nature can not be constantly occupied with the matters of Halacha, but if he does not know how to appreciate his own talent, and he deals with Halacha like everyone does, he feels an opposition in his soul to those things that he deals with, being that those matters are contrary to his own nature.
But if he were to find his role and fulfill it, to engage regularly in that profession within the Torah, which suits the character of his soul, then he would have known from the beginning that the feeling of opposition that comes to him when dealing with Halacha does not come from any deficiency in the studies of these holy and necessary matters, but because his soul has different needs for learning the Torah, and he would have remained faithful to the holiness of the Torah, and successful in the Torah in his profession, etc. Although, since he does not know the cause of his contrary feeling while learning, and he is getting stronger against his own nature,  when new ways are opened before him, he erupts and becomes hateful and disrespectful to the Torah and the faith" (ibid. v 6).
Identifying the areas of interest and the sources of pleasure and creativity in studying may help to face the challenge, over time, and progress spiritually.