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"It's just a highly carbonated, deliciously-flavored, superbly-concocted soft drink. It has its limitations."
12 comments:
I think Learning Lishmah is learning just because you want to learn and not learning for any tests, or quizzes, or homework because then you are learning becaue you have to, even if you are interested. If however you have homework or a project and you do the assignment but then are really interested in it so you go above and beyond the requirements of the assignment than I think you are also learning Lishmah.
Anonymous,
Thanks for posting. This topic has been on my mind recently, so it's good to hear others' opinion on the matter, especially since yours was different than what I had been thinking about.
I was wondering if content mattered, i.e. if one is learning for the sake of doing (I think that Pirkei Avos says that that should be the purpose of learning) is that still considered learning lishmah? Is Torah learning which is done for enjoyment and to increase one's appreciation of Torah and G-d, but which does not impart any obvious moral lessons, considered Torah lishmah?
Thoughts?
"Is Torah learning which is done for enjoyment and to increase one's appreciation of Torah and G-d, but which does not impart any obvious moral lessons, considered Torah lishmah?"
Yes i think it is. In fact I think if I had to make a one sentance definition of Torah Lishmah I would say it is "Torah learning which is done for enjoyment and to increase one's appreciation of Torah and G-d"
As far as imparting obvious moral lessons, that can go two ways.
1) I dont think it is necassary. If I love learning the details of making brachot and I want to learn about that even though I may be reading "Say Hamotzei on bread" and not "be a better person" whose to say thats not learning Lishmah?
2) Just because the moral part of the lesson may not be obvious, I think if you are honestly learning to increase your appreciation of Torah and G-d it is bound to be a moral push no matter what the subject.
Just a thought..
I agree with anonymous mostly, but I'd like to give a different approach:
Learning lishma is not restricted to "extra-curricular learning" per se. Learning lishma can also be done when ur learning for schoolwork--all it requires is a geniune desire to learn. I remember many times I've done assignments for homework and really enjoyed what I was learning--and while I "had" to do that learning for school, I also think it was learning lishma.
I'm a different anonymous than the first one.
"Is Torah learning which is done for enjoyment and to increase one's appreciation of Torah and G-d, but which does not impart any obvious moral lessons, considered Torah lishmah?"
I think that is what learning lishma is! I’ll try to explain as clearly as I can how I understand that appreciation of Torah and G-d is a moral lesson in itself and therefore is learning lishma. Please let me know if I don’t make any sense because I find it hard to explain to someone what makes perfect sense in my head. I think it is a little bit different than the other Anonymous, maybe a bit more expanded, but maybe I am saying the same thing but in a lot more words, but I’ll post it anyway.
"imparting any obvious moral lessons": There is the type of learning that teaches you a moral lesson. By obvious, I understand to be when you learn ______(you fill in which sefer/rav) on any Midah of your choice. It is an obvious lesson on how to refine your moral character.
Another type of learning, which I personally enjoy is learning Halacha, like how to wash my hands in the morning, and saying brachos on my food. There isn't an obvious moral lesson spelled out in the words of the halacha (although there is the doing part of the halachos, but let’s say I just like to learn Halacha).
The moral lesson I learn when I learn any Torah(in its broad sense), regardless of its content, is that Hashem has commanded me to learn His Torah and keep it and emulate Hashem to become the best Eved Hashem I can be (which is your idea of lishma, if I’m not misunderstanding what you mean)
So even though there is no “obvious” moral lesson like “I am a better person than before because I know to make a bracha on the peach before a piece of watermelon”, I am still learning something because I say “wow, Halacha is amazing because there are so many details (which unfortunately people see as burdensome, while I find it beautiful), and this is helping me to fulfill Hashem’s Will." Obviously, I can’t do all the Halachos I learn all at once, but I still enjoy learning them and they increase my appreciation of Torah and G-d, and that in itself is a moral lesson. (I believe this applies to any topic of Torah)
If you are learning and you have this awareness and the content is in sync with Torah values, I think a person is in pretty good shape.
I think the “appreciation of Torah and G-d” is what a lot of people forget about or just don’t have when they aren’t learning those topics that are directly “moral lessons”. People forget about the purpose of their learning and see it only as intellectual pursuit. They may get a “gishmak” out of “understanding what the idea is” or “philosophizing”, but they lose the foundation of why they are learning in the first place and fail to relate it back to Hashem’s infinite wisdom at the end of the day, which is what we are supposed to do. I find that this leads to people’s justification of learning so called “Torah” from incredulous sources in the name of “intellectual pursuit”.
Diet Dr Pepper
Great Question! Thanks for bringing it up!
- Anonymous 1
Wow, Anonymous (plural) and Rebecca, I have a lot to digest. Your comments have been very helpful.
I was motivated to write this post after discussing the concept of Torah lishmah with a friend/chavrusah. We had been discussing the merits of literary-style parshanut on Tanach. Personally, I find it very enjoyable just to delve into the text of the Torah ("Torah learning which is done for enjoyment and to increase one's appreciation of Torah and G-d, but which does not [necessarily] impart any obvious moral lessons"). After our discussion, I was considering the value of such learning--is my enjoyment and increased appreciation for/understanding of the Torah reason enough for such learning, or would my time be better spent in other ways? Your posts have helped me sort out my thoughts. Thanks!
Thoughts?
If ur asking from an intellectual perspective, I can hardly think of a better intellectual pursuit than studying Torah.
in terms of learning its a different lishma. We ask hashem everyday to make learning enjoyable in the bracha of "ve'haarev nah- please make it sweet for us".
In any case we should always do things shelo lishma, not that lishma isnt a level to seek, but the wording of the mishna is Le'olam ya
aseh adom davar shelo lishma...- Le'olam isn't a superflous word, its telling you that you SHOULD do things shelo lishma
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