Learning from our teachers--and from experience

How do we know anything? The Malbim, in his introduction to Mishlei (Proverbs), lists various ways we can acquire knowledge. There is prophecy, a class of knowledge that is channelled directly to us from God. While this source is not currently open to us, we still have records of much prophecy that has been received by the prophets of the Jewish bible. Then there is wisdom, in the sense of understanding something because we have thought about it and placed it within our general scheme of things. Next comes tradition: we know something because it has been told to us by someone else. Finally there is empirical knowledge, which we can gain through our own research, experimentation and experience.

Of these four sources of knowledge affect, the one that makes the greatest impact is empirical knowledge which we gain from personal experience. This is because of its immediacy and its intensity. Catching one’s finger in the door, gazing lovingly at one’s newborn child, realizing that one has lost one’s way when alone in the dark—these are events which, once experienced, are unlikely ever to be forgotten.  At the other end of the scale lies knowledge gained solely from books and which is unlikely to be personally experienced. However great its importance, we may struggle to internalise it and fully appreciate it.

Pirkei Avot addresses not only the value of knowledge (particularly Torah knowledge) but also the danger of forgetting it. R’ Dostai bar Yannai teaches, in the name of R’ Meir (Avot 3:10) that anyone who forgets even one item of his learning is responsible for the fate of his soul; Avtalyon (Avot 1:11) and R’ Yehudah (Avot 4:16) both warn of the danger of getting one’s Torah wrong—a likely consequence of teaching a topic when you no longer remember it properly. Then there is R’ Nehorai (Avot 4:18), who cautions us to remain in the company of those who will reinforce our Torah knowledge rather than “going solo”.

We know that what we learn when young generally sticks in our memories better than what we learn later (Elisha ben Avuyah, Avot 4:25). But does the likelihood of forgetting one’s learning also depend on how it reaches us in the first place? Maharam Shik acknowledges that what we learn from our own investigations and experiences is recorded more vividly in our memories—but there is always the worry that, when we learn something for ourselves, we may fail to draw the right conclusions from our learning.

So how do we strike the right balance between what we learn from the Torah and what we learn from our own experiences?