Q&A: Analysis, Breadth, and Review in Torah Study
Analysis, Breadth, and Review in Torah Study
Question
In my breadth-study session, I learn in order to cover a tractate, and I try to review each page of Talmud with Rashi and certain Tosafot three more times, so that I’m reviewing it, and I mark a check on each page so that I know I’ve more or less learned it on a breadth level, and also so that if I want to finish the tractate I can know where I’m up to. Usually I don’t end up reviewing that page again after that. One of my friends told me that it really bothers him to see me learning Torah like this, because to him it looks like I’m learning just in order to put a check on each page and move on—instead of simply learning and reviewing as much as needed without being busy with markings. I explained to him that I have no choice, because there’s a required pace that has to be kept, and every page deserves review, and sometimes that’s the price of a breadth-study session—but he didn’t accept that. What does the Rabbi think about this?
Answer
Obviously the goal is to remember. But endless review is very difficult, and the human soul is complex. So in my opinion there’s no problem with marking goals in a technical way. Personally, I prefer not to learn breadth at all. If you learn analytically, you remember better, even without review.