“Rebbe, I am going to go study for this week’s Chumash test.”
“No. You don’t study Chumash, you learn Chumash.”
That was an exchange with my 10th grade Rebbe that left an indelible impression on me.
HaGaon HaRav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, (Igros Moshe Y.D. 3:83) insisted that in our childrens’ yeshivos, Limudei Kodesh should always precede secular studies. Granted, it’s not always the easiest logistical arrangement, the principle remains true.
There is a fundamental difference between the Torah we learn and the other disciplines that we study. In mathematics, my effort is immaterial. Either I know the equations or I do not.
But Torah is about shteiging, and we are rewarded for our efforts. Hashem looks at not just how much we learn, but how much we want to learn. As it says in Avos (5:23), “L’fum tza’ara agra.”