Avos 4:10

בס׳ד

אבות ד:י

Rabbi Meir says: Minimize business and busy yourself with Torah; And be humble of spirit before all people; And if you waste time in the study of Torah, all sorts of time-wasters will arise to distract you; And if you labor in the study of Torah, He has a great reward to give you.

רַבִּי מֵאִיר אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי מְמַעֵט בְּעֵסֶק, וַעֲסֹק בַּתּוֹרָה. וֶהֱוֵי שְׁפַל רוּחַ בִּפְנֵי כָל אָדָם. וְאִם בָּטַלְתָּ מִן הַתּוֹרָה, יֶשׁ לְךָ בְטֵלִים הַרְבֵּה כְנֶגְדָּךְ. וְאִם עָמַלְתָּ בַתּוֹרָה, יֶשׁ לוֹ שָׂכָר הַרְבֵּה לִתֶּן לָךְ:

        Rabbi Meir, the great memorizer of Torah (Avos 3:8), offers here a clue to the source of his own powers.

        First, he carved out a key portion of each day for his studies, minimizing his engagement in the world of matter in order to clear his mind for the world of spirit.

        Second, he trained his mind to be receptive to the Torah’s words by training his character to be receptive to the wisdom of other people. By turning himself into a container of wisdom rather than a noisy rattle, he prepared his mind to be a kind of clay that could retain the impressions of Torah.

        Rabbi Meir closes with some practical advice.  If you waste your study time, don’t suppose that you’ll somehow have more time for other things. Rather, each moment of wasted study deprives you of the placidity and centeredness you need to excel generally.  If you let distractions ruin your concentration on Torah, you’ll lose the discipline to focus elsewhere.  By contrast, the more time spent with Torah, the more you are energized for other pursuits, and the more you are likely to see them to a rewarding conclusion.

&&&