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Machon L’ukmei Girsa Jerusalem

About the Machon:

With much siyata d’Shmaya, we’ve been granted the privilege of establishing Machon L’ukmei Girsa in Jerusalem.

Our goal at the Machon is to help dedicated lamdanim, who put all their energies into their Torah learning, to retain their learning permanently, with full clarity and in thorough detail. This is achieved by using a unique memory-training tool that has seen 100% success. Kal Lizkor is a computer program, with no need for an internet connection, based on the teachings of Torah giants of past generations, and particularly on the advice of Rav Yaakov Emden zy”a regarding the correct approach to chazarah.

Users have told us they are thrilled with the program, that it “completely wipes out” the problem of forgetting and “gets the learning into their bones.” With each use, the program “reads the map” of the learner’s mind, and guides him to focus more on the details in the sugya that he has difficulty remembering, and less on the details he remembers easily. This maximizes the power of every chazarah.

Baruch Hashem, the results speak for themselves. Hundreds of talmidei chachamim from all over Eretz Yisrael who have joined the circle of learners using Kal Lizkor are not only learning, but also remembering what they’ve learned, like treasures kept safe in a vault. And because they remember their learning, it is so fulfilling and satisfying. Their zest for learning keeps on growing, and so does their hasmadah.

In addition to its kollel in the holy city of Jerusalem, this past winter Machon L’ukmei Girsa held conferences in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak, at which the Rosh Kollel, Harav Hagaon R’ Shemaya Pollak shlita, gave a presentation to large audiences of avreichim, explaining the benefits of the Kal Lizkor program and offering guidance on the correct approach to learning and strategies for improving memory retention.

The Machon offers special scholarship grants to lamdanim who purchase the program and pass a test after using it regularly for six months. For more details [קישור]

What Will You Get?

The Kal Lizkor kit consists of three parts: the course, the software, and customer support.

The course

4 hours of audio files, in which Harav Hagaon R’ Yehoshua Skolt of Jerusalem presents a thorough and comprehensive approach to learning correctly and remembering one’s learning.

The software

a powerful tool which helps the lamdan to organize and retain his learning. (No internet connection required.)

Customer support

ongoing support from the Kal Lizkor team, to ensure that you get the most out of the program

What are the principles behind it?

The course and the software are based on principles laid out by the gedolim of generations past, and in particular, by Rabbeinu Rav Yaakov Emden zy”a.

What is the central principle behind the software program?

The Yaavetz, in his sefer Migdal Oz, argues that in order to remember, one must activate the ko’ach hazichroni, the faculty of memory. One who activates the power of memory will remember, and one who doesn’t activate this power will not remember, even if he reviews a hundred times. To quote the Yaavetz: “For he has already habituated his mind to be distracted and empty, and any review that is done in an absentminded way is worthless.”

The insight we can draw from the Yaavetz’s words is that chazarah should not be done the way most people assume, repeated steadily day after day until the material is memorized.

The correct and effective method of review is to do chazarah with increasing spans of time between one chazarah and the next.

In other words, we should review our learning a number of times, waiting for the next review until we are beginning to forget the material, but have not forgotten it completely. This is how the ko’ach hazichroni is activated, and now when we review, the concepts we’ve learned will be absorbed in detail and filed in our memory in such a way that they won’t be forgotten. Researchers in the psychology of memory, lehavdil, conducted tests and came to the same conclusion as the Yaavetz, calling it the “spacing effect.”

This is the central principle on which the Kal Lizkor program is built. We go on to the next chazarah when it’s already somewhat difficult to remember the teirutz, but with an effort, we can still recall it.

This is the main idea, but only one of the principles on which the entire program is built. The full course consists of 6 lectures packed with priceless tools for success in acquiring Torah knowledge, delivered by Harav Hagaon R’ Yehoshua Skolt shlita.

How does the Kal Lizkor computer program work?

After you’ve summarized your learning, you type your summary into the designated boxes, in the form of questions and answers.
On the “chazarah” tab, you’ll find your questions waiting for you, without the answers. Now your task is to answer the questions from memory.
After answering the questions from memory, you click on the “answer” button and compare the answer you’ve given to the answer from your original summary.
How close is your answer to the original? Give yourself a grade, rating your knowledge from a choice of five levels.
The program calculates when to present you with the questions next time, according to 2 main factors:
1. the time it takes for memory retention to weaken (according to memory research)
2. the difficulty you have in answering the questions accurately (according to your responses)

Bottom line: The program assesses the current level of your memory retention and selects the best date for your next chazarah with precision.

The result: The program ensures optimal results from your review and chazarah by “taking a snapshot” of the user’s mind, and then guides him to focus more on the details in the sugya that he has difficulty remembering, and less on the details he remembers easily.

Using the “spacing effect” to best advantage, repeated review after longer and longer waiting periods from one review to the next fixes the learning firmly in the learner’s mind, eliminating the problem of forgetting.