The Rosh Yeshivah used five-minute blocks of time to become an expert in the voluminous seforim of the Aruch Hashulchan

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nyone who had the opportunity to observe or spend time with Rav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg ztz”l would immediately notice that the Rosh Yeshivah never wasted even a moment. Wherever he went, whether to a simchah or a meeting on behalf of the yeshivah, he would always carry a sefer and learn from it at any free moment.

When I first arrived to learn in Eretz Yisrael in 1974, I asked the Rosh Yeshivah when I should learn halachah, which wasn’t part of the yeshivah’s curriculum. The Rosh Yeshivah asked me how long my lunch break was, and when I told him it was an hour and a half, he told me, “You don’t need more than half an hour for that; use the other hour to learn through Mishnah Berurah.”

I countered that if I followed the Rosh Yeshivah’s suggestion that would mean I’d have to learn without a chavrusa. Incredibly, the Rosh Yeshivah responded that he would be my chavrusa. He told me to come by each Friday afternoon and that he would answer any questions that had arisen while I was learning halachah on my own. That was an offer that I could not refuse, (and one that planted the seeds for my sefer, Sh'eilos uTeshuvos Divrei Chachamim).

Often when I would ask a question on a particularly difficult segment of the Mishnah Berurah, the Rosh Yeshivah would ask me if I had looked into the Aruch Hashulchan on that siman. When I would respond that I hadn’t, the Rosh Yeshivah would invariably quote the relevant words of the Aruch Hashulchan by heart.

One time, I mustered up the courage to ask the Rosh Yeshivah when had found time to learn the Aruch Hashulchan so well. His mind-blowing response was, “Five minutes here and five minutes there.”

The Rosh Yeshivah used five-minute blocks of time to become an expert in the voluminous seforim of the Aruch Hashulchan.

Just recently, the Rosh Yeshivah’s only son and successor, Rav Simcha Scheinberg, shared an incredible story with me, dating back 50 years.

In the yeshivah’s early days, there was nowhere in the Mattersdorf neighborhood for the bochurim to buy a quick snack or drink. One enterprising young talmid decided to open a canteen and approached the Rosh Yeshivah for permission.

The Rosh Yeshivah assented, but stipulated that the canteen could only be opened for a half hour before breakfast, an hour after night seder, and only five minutes before shiur.

“But Rebbi,” the talmid replied, “what can be accomplished in just five minutes?”

“You will see what you can accomplish in five minutes,” the Rosh Yeshivah replied.

More than 50 years later, this talmid shared with Rav Simcha that he had made more in those five-minute slots than in the remaining hour-and-a-half ones.

The story is a powerful illustration of firstly, the power of a brachah from a gadol, and secondly, the potential to accomplish enduring things in just five minutes. The Rosh Yeshivah taught this to his talmidim through the powerful example of his long and productive life.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1069)