New and Improved

Rav Hirsch zt”l, writes that just as each day brings its own refreshing renewal, every years does as well. This is actually based on the words of the Arizal who explains the difference between each day’s renewals as opposed to each year’s. Each year we acquire an entirely new facet of the Torah. While each day we are building on what came before, each year must be completely different. This is the inner meaning of Chazal’s statement that the Torah has “seventy faces”—the average number of years in a person’s life. During each year, a new aspect of the Torah is revealed within the collective soul of the Jewish people—and last year’s Torah cannot be rolled over into a new year!
A talmid once asked Rav Shach zt”l, “Why do you work so hard preparing your lectures? It’s all written down in your work Avi Ezri. Why not just review it before the shiur?”
The Rosh Yeshivah explained, “You should know that it is impossible to learn Torah and really transmit it to one’s students through seforim alone. The student must hear Torah from a Rav who is living that which he teaches so it can enter into his heart. If I were to teach my shiurim straight from Avi Ezri, I would merely be mouthing that which has already been written, without having to add any new effort. How can I possibly give over the Torah if my students won’t feel how I toiled to gain a proper understanding? If I were just going to read from a book, surely it would be better to quote from the K’tzos or Rabbi Akiva Eiger zt”l, instead of my shiur! If you want to understand the true meaning of mesoras haTorah, it is that ‘words that come forth from the heart can enter into the heart of another.’”