"A Person’s Wisdom Reaches Only as Far as His Seforim Reach" – Darkei HaGemara, on the Principles of the Talmud, Mantua 1593
Darkei HaGemara, an important sefer on the principles of Talmud study, authored by the Gaon Rav Yitzchak Kanpanton, Mantua, 1593 – Second Edition.
This renowned work on Talmudic methodology was penned by Rav Yitzchak Kanpanton, one of the foremost Sephardic scholars of the 15th century, who was revered as the “Gaon of Castile”.
“A Person’s Wisdom Reaches Only as Far as His Seforim Reach”
This sefer contains the famous saying now widely quoted among talmidei chachamim:
"Ein chochmas adam magi’a ela ad makom she’sefarav magi’im, ve’lifichach yimkor adam kol mah she’yesh lo veyikneh sefarim"
“A person’s wisdom reaches only as far as his seforim reach; therefore, one should sell all he possesses in order to acquire seforim.”
This statement has become a fundamental concept in Torah scholarship, emphasizing the paramount importance of seforim in the growth of a talmid chacham.
"One of the acquisitions of wisdom is to train oneself to be meticulous in the language of the Chachamim, for their words were written with precise, analytical accuracy…" (Chazon Ish, printed at the end of ‘Darkei HaGemara, ’ Rabbi Albetsky edition).
