Just Five Minutes: The Steipler’s Lesson on True Success

There was a close bond between the Steipler, Rabbi Yaakov Yisrael Kanievsky, and the maggid Rabbi Yaakov Galinsky. In the well-known book Rabbi Yaakov Omer, which gathers Rabbi Galinsky’s talks, he shares a powerful story.

A young man once came to the Steipler with a painful confession. Learning Torah, he said, was extremely difficult for him. Not just difficult. He felt completely unable to do it.

From the outside, it seemed almost impossible to imagine such a struggle in front of the Steipler. After all, he himself would sit and learn day and night without pause. In Bialystok, there were study sessions that lasted 36 hours straight. Rabbi Galinsky even recalled how the Steipler once told him with a radiant smile, “Birkat HaTorah is not just a blessing over a mitzvah. It is a blessing over enjoyment.” That was how deeply he loved learning.

So how would he respond to someone who felt no sweetness at all?

Meeting the Struggle with Understanding

“You really can’t learn at all?” the Steipler asked gently, his face warm and understanding, fully connecting to the young man’s struggle.

“No,” the young man replied.

“Maybe half an hour?” the Steipler suggested.

The young man shook his head. “It’s too hard. My eyes hurt. My head feels like it’s floating. I just can’t.”

“Ten minutes?” the Steipler asked again, almost pleading on behalf of Torah itself.

“I can’t. I’m not able to, Rabbi. Really.”

“Five minutes?” he asked softly.

The young man paused. “Five minutes? Okay… that I can do.”

A Treasure in Small Steps

The Steipler’s face lit up. “You can learn for five minutes? That is wonderful. Five minutes is a treasure. Learn for five minutes, then take a break. Walk around a bit. Then learn another five minutes. Take another short break. Taste something. Rest a little. And then another five minutes.”

He continued, “Five minutes and then five more. That is a hidden treasure chest.”

Rabbi Galinsky would conclude from this story that this is what Chazal mean by “each according to what he can eat.” Every person has their own abilities. You cannot demand from one student what belongs to another. You cannot expect from one child what fits his brother. Each person needs a path that is tailored to who they are.

Redefining Success in Torah

On another occasion, Rabbi Galinsky shared an additional message from the Steipler.

“You speak to bnei Torah,” the Steipler told him. “Some of them think that success means being at the top of the class, perhaps even the best in the entire yeshiva or kollel.”

“But tell them,” he said, “that every page of Gemara, every line of Tosafot, every single minute of learning, that is success.”

This perspective changes everything. Success is not measured only by comparison or achievement. It is measured by effort, consistency, and the willingness to keep going, even in small steps.

Sometimes, five minutes is not just five minutes.

It is the beginning of everything.