Machshavot HaLev - Yeshivat Lev HaTorah

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בלה תובשחמ
Regular experiences have a small impact on a person, and it is only through
repetition that such experiences can leave a lasting impression. On the other
hand, experiences that are very intense have a much greater impact upon one’s
inner world. People who suffer a traumatic experience can never forget it and
their personalites may be shaped by it; similarly, one who achieves something
significant for which he has been hoping and yearning for a long time also never
forgets the experience. Pinchas’s act was extreme, intense and violent. Such an
act would naturally replay itself in his mind over and over, and would have a
significant impact on him even though it happened only once.
The Steipler Gaon (Birkat Peretz, Lech Lecha) points out that this provides food
for thought regarding our involvement in talmud Torah. Often, students are
frustrated by their failure to remember what they have learned. A child may
remember every statistic of every player on his favorite sports team, yet have
trouble remembering anything of the Torah he has studied. As we have seen,
that which a person is excited about makes an impact upon him. The more a
person recognizes the infinite value of Torah and yearns to connect with it and
to master it, the more stimulating the learning experience will be and the greater
the likelihood that one will remember what one has learned.