Why Begin Again the Moment We Finish?

Completion can create a dangerous illusion: “I already know this.” But the same Torah is read by a person who has changed since last year. The same is true of marriage, parenting, work, and self-knowledge. Memory is useful until it becomes a substitute for meeting reality again. “I know how my spouse will react,” “I know what kind of child this is,” “I know who I am” can freeze living people inside old information. Beginning again is not pretending we learned nothing. It is refusing to let what we learned become a wall against curiosity.