Q&A: Bar-Ilan Responsa, Otzar HaHochma, etc.
Bar-Ilan Responsa, Otzar HaHochma, etc.
Question
Hello Rabbi,
I wanted to ask whether the Rabbi recommends using knowledge databases like these. What are they useful for?
Is it only for someone looking for sources?
Is there any particular version that is especially recommended?
Thanks in advance.
Answer
I highly recommend them. I use only them (I no longer have holy books). It’s not just a tool for reaching sources, but also a tool that streamlines the learning itself (all the books are within reach, and you can open parallel windows; you can copy source passages when preparing a lesson, etc.).
The version depends on your preferences and habits. The Bar-Ilan Responsa Project is much more convenient and efficient to use than Otzar HaHochma, but it has far fewer books.
Discussion on Answer
On the Sabbath we rest and engage in Torah in the person, not in the object (= secular books and articles). In any case, without writing I can’t learn Talmudic passages.
On the Sabbath most of the columns flow.
Okay, I’m not on that level. Most of my learning is on the Sabbath and from books.
What about the educational value of a house with books?
May I ask what the reason is that the Rabbi can’t learn without writing?
I follow the Vilna Gaon’s approach: “Make for yourself a rabbi, and acquire for yourself a friend” — with “acquire” vocalized differently. This is my study partner. I think through writing.
As for the educational aspect, I’m not worthy to say.
I thought that’s what you’d say, because I too find myself having difficulty — to the point of being unable — to learn something properly unless I write. It engraves the ideas on the soul and makes it possible to internalize and understand them. (And I’m not talking only about Talmudic passages, but anything I really want to learn.)
But I’m always frustrated by the fact that others around me do manage to learn without investing so much time and energy in such a ritual, and they just sail ahead while I trail behind.
Do you also experience / have you also experienced that?
No.
No holy books at all? What about Sabbaths?