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Why did Hashem make it harder for this generation to learn Torah, rather than making it equal for every generation? We have all these distractions like tv or games.

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@bas613 You're joking right? 1000 years ago your ancestors can get tortured to death for practicing the religion. I wish I still had time to play video games rather than asking questions here :) +1 anyway. – Jim Thio Dec 24 '11 at 10:47

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Who says it's harder? One thousand years ago, they had so many concerns. Just making dinner was a huge effort. Now, we have so many prepared kosher foods, canned foods, bodek broccoli! What about kosher chicken? Do you even know how to prepare a chicken? To salt it and remove the feathers? Can you imagine the effort that would go into preparing a chicken dinner? Now, it's open the package, rinse, spice, bake, and enjoy. So much easier! What about clothing? You can, B"H, find tzenius clothing in stores that are relatively inexpensive. One thousand years ago, you would probably be sewing it yourself. Do you even know how to sew?

Feel privileged to live in this information age, when chicken soup and gefilte fish come in a jar. It's easy!

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Rivka, Welcome to mi.yodeya, and thanks very much for your insight! I look forward to seeing you around the site. – Isaac Moses Apr 16 '10 at 20:43
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Every generation has its distractions. 1000 years ago believing in another god was a distraction. Hashem never gives a challenge one cannot succeed in. TV, games, cell phones, etc., are part of the challenge. Hashem made you to succeed in the mission of "distractions".

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mrt, Welcome to mi.yodeya, and thanks very much for the insightful answer! I look forward to seeing you around. – Isaac Moses Apr 16 '10 at 1:32
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It might be because we are living in the Ikvisah Dimoshicha -- the times of Moshiach.

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How does that answer the question? – msh210♦ Jul 10 '12 at 19:36
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To increase our reward. H' gives us the free will to learn Torah or m'vatel our time.

Yet in reality, I think it would be hard to defend the very premise of your question; I would argue that it has never been easier to learn Torah, but perhaps that is for a different forum.

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I agree with your challenge to the premise. The reason that all of these distractions can exist is because humanity (especially in the developed world) needs less and less time working to feed itself, so there's more and more leisure time available. 1000 years ago, almost everyone had to farm most of the time to survive, so few had any time to either learn or (lehavdil) play video games. – Isaac Moses Apr 15 '10 at 21:15
@IsaacMoses Actually, pre-industrial societies tended to have more free time. However, there was more disease, starvation, and less literacy. Also, more frequent crusades. In all, I think we're better off now, but not in terms of free time. – Charles Koppelman Aug 6 '12 at 16:31
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I think it might be because it's just the way Hashem made this world. We live in time, and time passes, making us smarter creating all these distractions.

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Like the distraction of being on this site instead of being in school? – Yahu Apr 15 '10 at 19:45
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Anu mesachakim hookie, veheim mesachakim hookie. Anu mesachakim hookie velomdim Torah, veheim mesachakim hookie umevatlim. – Isaac Moses Apr 15 '10 at 21:19

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