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The Gemara in Masechet Erubin (54b) cites the verse from Mishleh (5:19), "Dadeha Yeravucha Be’chol Et," which compares Torah to the breast of a nursing mother. The Gemara explains that just as the infant always finds milk when he sucks, similarly, one can always receive new understanding and insight every time he learns Torah.
The Hafetz Haim (Rav Yisrael Meir Kagan of Radin, 1839-1933), in his work Shem Olam, writes that we can infer from this Gemara the proper attitude and mindset that one should have toward Torah study. One should not think to himself, "So many thousands of great Rabbis have studied and probed this topic already, and they must have exhausted all possible explanations and insights. Why should I bother studying it and trying to find novel insights?" This is not the correct attitude. Just as each time a nursing baby sucks he finds fresh milk, there is always new material in Torah that is available and waiting to be discovered. The Almighty leaves material for every student and every scholar, because each and every Jew has his own unique share in Torah, as we pray, "Ve’ten Helkenu Be’Toratach" – "Give us our portion in Your Torah." Hashem leaves each person’s share concealed until he comes along and uncovers it. The Hatam Sofer (Rabbi Moshe Sofer of Pressburg, 1762-1839) writes that Hashem will withhold insights even from great scholars of an earlier generation so that it can be revealed by a lesser scholar of a later generation, whose soul is connected to that piece of Torah. Therefore, one should not think that he is not worthy of learning Torah in depth and trying to arrive at Hiddushim (novel Torah insights), because every Jew has a portion of Torah for him to reveal.
The Ben Ish Hai (Rav Yosef Haim of Baghdad, 1833-1909), in the introduction to his work of responsa Rab Pe’alim, notes a difference that he observed between the styles of the Ashkenazic and Sephardic scholars. The Ashkenazim, he writes, study the Gemara and the major Rishonim (Medieval commentators), and then proceed directly to determine the Halacha. Sepharadim, on the other hand, take the time to study as many works of the Rishonim and Aharonim as they can before reaching a conclusion. The Ben Ish Hai writes (listen to audio recording for precise citation) that "after asking forgiveness a thousand times" from the Ashkenazim, for whom he had great respect, he believes there is a distinct advantage to the Sephardic methodology because, as mentioned, every student and scholar is given a new insight. Even though the scholars of the earlier generations were greater, Hashem allows the later scholars to reveal certain insights and perspectives that were withheld from the giants of earlier generations. It is therefore important to study the works of all the great Torah scholars, because each brings a new, fresh perspective that cannot be found in the works of others, even of those who achieved a higher level of scholarship.
A perfect example of the Ben Ish Hai’s observation is HaGaon Hacham Ovadia Yosef. Anyone who is familiar with the Hacham’s works knows that when he approaches a subject, he reads all the material in all Sefarim relevant to the discussion, including books that few others have even heard of. He wants to make sure to see every possible angle and every way of analyzing the issue before reaching his conclusion, realizing that every scholar has his own, unique share in Torah and thus offers his own perspective.
No matter how much we study, we always have more to learn and new insight to gain, and it therefore behooves all of us to learn to the best of our ability to invest maximum effort so we can reveal and uncover our unique share in Torah.
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