While still a child, the Rebbe began to devote every possible moment to his sacred studies. He would pay his tutor three silver coins⁷, meaning large coins. out of his own pocket for each page of Gemara⁸ taught. This was in addition to the regular tuition paid by his father. The Rebbe would add his own bonus for each page so his tutor would exert himself to teach him many pages each day. The Rebbe’s plan succeeded and his tutor taught him a considerable amount every day, collecting his three extra coins for each page.

footnotes: ⁷ In Hebrew, gedolim ⁸ The second part of the Talmud, completed in the year 505 C.E. by Mar bar Rav Ashi and Meremar in Babylonia. Gemara is the main curriculum of a Jewish scholar.