I quote one line:
"Or is the goal the simchas hachayim itself with a feeling of connection, void of an actual one?"
In other words [hold on tight:-):-)] When one connects to Hashem through learning any TORAH besides gemara bi-iyun, it isn't real.
HASHEM SAVE US!!!
The Torah is vast. ALL Torah connects one to Hashem. Chumash, Navi, Mishna, Medrash etc. etc. The sfarim and tzadikim teach that the greatest connection to Hashem comes when one learns pnimiyus ha-Torah - the depths of hidden Torah [this is also called "Chasidus"]. OF COURSE one MUST learn gemara bi-iyun also but that is not the exclusive way and if one isn't zocheh to learn gemara properly it doesn't mean that he is lost, chas vi-shalom.
Besides Torah, there is tefillah. Talking to Hashem!! Avodah she-bi-lev! How holy! We stand before Hashem and acknowledge that we are NOTHING, we are COMPLETELY at Hashem's mercy every second of our lives which could end at any second. We praise him for every breath, for every cell in our body, for the trillions of blessings in our lives.
There is also chesed and tzedaka!! That is a GREAT way of being close to Hashem. One gets closer to the Creator by being LIKE HIM and doing chesed [which He does all day] than by serving Him!!
The list goes on and on.
So PUUULEEEEAZZZE don't get me wrong. I LOVE gemara with a passion. It is the meat an' potatoes of a Jewish man's service of Hashem. It has customarily been the MAIN, PRIMARY element of Torah study. Gemara, Rishonim and Achronim. Hard core!! Deeeeepppp. Incisive. Questions, answers. Clarity. Hard work. By all means.
But we CELEBRATE how many people are gravitating towards live of Avodas Hashem and simcha - even if they have all not yet developed a taste for in depth gemara study!! ואין אדם לומד אלא במקום שלבו חפץ!
