When Reb Motel Rivkin asked the Rebbe for a bracha for inner peace, the Rebbe recommended that he learn every day with a chavrusa – and pay him.
Reb Motel Rivkin, a businessman and an activist, also served as a member on the Beis Rivkah school board. He recorded the following in his memoirs:
It was during a period in my life when I was very busy with my business endeavors, that I asked the Rebbe for a bracha that I should attain menuchas hanefesh (inner calm).
The Rebbe advised me, “Set up a chavrusa for forty-five minutes a day.”
The Rebbe continued, “Truthfully, you should learn more, but since you are preoccupied with Beis Rivkah, forty-five minutes will have to suffice.”
Then the Rebbe stipulated two conditions for the success of the learning.
(1) That the study take place outside my home.
(2) That I pay the chavrusa for his time.
Indeed, I set up a chavrusa with Harav Yehuda Kalman Marlow, with whom I learned every evening.