I hold from two kinds of learning fast and in depth. I think the fast kind should be like it says in the Talmud Shabat 63a one should "just say the words and go on." This was done at the Mir yeshiva in NY in the second session of the day.
Now, I admit that since the people that read this blog might not be ready for the fast kind of learning that my comments might seems not relevant to them. They might not even know enough Hebrew for this to work well. In any case, I want to write down for the record what this kind of fast learning means and also show how it can be used for Physics.
So here it is:
People in the Mir in the afternoon said over the Gemara Rashi and some of the Tosphot and then went on. They did not stumble around on every little point they did not understand. In that way people could cover a lot of material. I saw Reb Shmuel Berenabum do this in the afternoons and he would cover anywhere from 15 to twenty pages in this way. You might be like me and be on a learning level that this does not make sense to you today. But you still need to be aware of this so that when it comes a day when you are able to do this you know what to do.
This applies to Physics and Math also. Now why are both of these subjects important? Mainly because of the Ibn Pakuda [the author of the first Musar book the Obligations of the Heart] and other rishonim. My parents also held very highly from both of these though my Dad was more into inventing stuff for the USA army and space program. In any case, the fast session in Physics is also as above. לעולם לגרס אנש עא''ג דמשכח ואע''ג דלא ידע מאי קאמר say the words even though you forget and even though you don't know what you are saying. This is from the Talmud in Shabat 63a and also Avoda Zara but I forget the page number.
I heard from Stephen Forest, a Physics professor in Munich, that this is in fact how one very good physics professor he knows did his learning. This should not take the place of learning depth of as I do repeating each paragraph twice an going on. That however counts as in depth learning and is not the same as the fast session.
Now, I admit that since the people that read this blog might not be ready for the fast kind of learning that my comments might seems not relevant to them. They might not even know enough Hebrew for this to work well. In any case, I want to write down for the record what this kind of fast learning means and also show how it can be used for Physics.
So here it is:
People in the Mir in the afternoon said over the Gemara Rashi and some of the Tosphot and then went on. They did not stumble around on every little point they did not understand. In that way people could cover a lot of material. I saw Reb Shmuel Berenabum do this in the afternoons and he would cover anywhere from 15 to twenty pages in this way. You might be like me and be on a learning level that this does not make sense to you today. But you still need to be aware of this so that when it comes a day when you are able to do this you know what to do.
This applies to Physics and Math also. Now why are both of these subjects important? Mainly because of the Ibn Pakuda [the author of the first Musar book the Obligations of the Heart] and other rishonim. My parents also held very highly from both of these though my Dad was more into inventing stuff for the USA army and space program. In any case, the fast session in Physics is also as above. לעולם לגרס אנש עא''ג דמשכח ואע''ג דלא ידע מאי קאמר say the words even though you forget and even though you don't know what you are saying. This is from the Talmud in Shabat 63a and also Avoda Zara but I forget the page number.
I heard from Stephen Forest, a Physics professor in Munich, that this is in fact how one very good physics professor he knows did his learning. This should not take the place of learning depth of as I do repeating each paragraph twice an going on. That however counts as in depth learning and is not the same as the fast session.
