These milestone posts remind me of a powerful dvar mussar I once heard from Rav Moshe Braverman from Yerushalayim.
Two Israeli Jews decide to spend a year in America and to return with a million dollars. They both leave their families and engage in all sorts of business ventures in America, and at the end of the year they each return, having made half-a-million dollars.
One man is terribly distraught. He had set his goal at a million, and although half that was nothing to sneeze at, he missed his goal. He is practically inconsolable, upset that he couldn't pull of making a million dollars. His friend, however, is very happy with his windfall. Yes, it was not the million he had hoped for, but it was money he could use to live comfortably for a number of years to come.
Asked Rav Braverman - which of these men is a bigger Ohev Kesef? Which one has a greater passion for money?
We would naturally assume that the man who was so perturbed has a greater desire for money. No, says Rav Bravermen. He has a crazy desire for a million dollars. It's not the money that he cares about, but the threshold of a million dollars. If he would really love money, he would've been ecstatic with the money he has.
The same is true with Torah. We are a generation in which Ohev Torah is lacking. We are Ohev Shas - we love to finish Shas, or finish mesechtos. But really, each word is so precious, and we have to learn to appreciate each word, line, page, etc. It's not just about milestones, but every word along the way.
