Self-motivated learning

I feel like I have written about this before but I thought of it during the night (I might have been dreaming it or just thinking it while half-asleep -- either way, I'm sorry if it is scattershot), so here it goes.

There are some strange threads that exist in Jewish teaching but I will try to pull them together. The first is a weird statement about the pig after the Moshiach arrives. According to those who quote the original, the pig is called a Chazir because it will "return" (chozer) to a kosher status in Messianic days.

There is another idea, this one about arguments. Ones that are not for the sake of heaven (like Korach's against Moshe) and ones that are for the sake of heaven (like Hillel against Shammai).

Another concept is that of repenting -- this is called being "chozer b'tshuva". Returning in repentance. But the same word also relates to repeating one's learning (to chozer, repeat/review, the text when studying)

And finally, the idea of a renewed covenant as discussed in the Navi -- the content doesn't change but the people do, as the Torah is written in their hearts and no one has to teach another the content.

One of the most important aspects of Judaism is kavannah -- intention and focus. The talmud has many places in which it discusses whether proper intention is a sine qua non for the successful performance of the commandments. The root ch-z-r seems to be teaching us that the right intention is essential when it comes to learning.

If I study for the test or to impress others, or for any reason which is not related to wanting to gain knowledge and understand my world better, then, while I might learn material, I am not acting in the optimal way. Our educational goal should be to have students learn to love exploring the world and having them want to learn for learning's sake. When they review (chazer) their studies, they should do so because reviewing will bring them closer to understanding the real answers then need to learn. Now, sadly, too much of our study is done to tick off a box, to pass a class, or get on to the next thing. This kind of learning is not destined to stick, and if it does stay in our brains, it will be separate from our "living" as it is a vestige of the purely selfish drive to reach a level or earn a grade. We are being like pigs, trying to grab up the facts and stuff them down and not savor and appreciate them. We are like Korach, focused on our own prowess and the results which aggrandize us. In the end, that is all fleeting.

We hope that through our work, the world will become a place where our intentions when we learn (and many have reached this level) because we learn and we see our world more clearly because we incorporate our learning into our thinking simply because it becomes part of us. This is the goal -- we are no longer focusing on ourselves, but on the material as an extension of our interaction with the world as a whole. This kind of learning is destined to become engrained in us.

We need to be less like the chazir as it is today, less like Korach was in that he used his learning to argue for the raised status of all the people, and be chozer b'tshuva, that is, review so that we can find answers to the questions of life and learn to be who we are without worrying about getting a grade or promotion. In the future, the nature of man will change so that the learning will become part of us and there won't be this struggle to keep ourselves with the proper kavannah. The covenant will be in our hearts so that we won't ever have to have an external motivation for learning and relearning it. This is destined to last. Even the most piggish will change in his nature, turning his selfish review of learning, his being a chazir about it, into something appropriate as he will be chozer to a status in which he is properly preparing his mind (kashering is, as the word comes from the idea of preparation) and the soul for connecting to the divine.

May the "pig" will change his stripes. May our discussions bring clarity and a change in our spirits. May we all be chozer for the right reasons.