“So, where did you learn?”
An innocent question to ask me, particularly as I’m a mechanech (teacher). Still, it’s a question that hits hard every time it’s asked, as I didn’t get seriously into learning until I was in my twenties, and have no yeshiva that serves as my home base.
While there is something to be said for being an eclectic learner, who in many ways pieced together my own derech, I deeply wish that I had started learning seriously earlier in my life, and that I had a derech in learning, particularly when it comes to Gemara. I sometimes play the not-so-healthy game of wondering which yeshiva I would choose if I could do it all over again. As much as I take learning seriously, a yeshiva is more than a place where Torah learning happens. It becomes a person’s link to Har Sinai, and a place to which you can literally or symbolically return throughout your life.
I am particularly appreciative of yeshivas which not only provide a derech in learning but also a hashkafas hachayim (outlook for life).
