Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Recorded Or Live

Notwithstanding the previous post I share with you the following thought based on what I saw in a sefer many years back.

We look at learning as primarily an intellectual experience so it wouldn't seem to matter if one learns from a sefer, a recorded shiur or a live shiur. But the truth is that learning is a spiritual exercise. The goal is to elevate our neshamos and come close to Hashem.

This being the case one should know that when two people are together in the same place and Torah is being spoken there is a hiskashrus haneshamos - a connecting of the souls. So if one is present when hearing Torah from a tzaddik it will have a more elevating effect on his soul than if he would read it in a sefer or listen to a recording.

So the computer is great with tens of thousands of shiurim available but it should never be a substitute for the live experience. [Lihavdil a trillion havdalos, there is a BIG difference in the level of excitement between watching a game on TV and being at the game. See you at the GAAAARDEN. Naaaaaaa.]

We should also be careful only to learn from people with pure neshamos because if the connection is made with someone who has contaminated his soul there is a spiritual danger involved. That is why the gemara [חגיגה טו] says that one should only learn from a Rav who is like an angel of G-d.