Good wine, nice beaches, and Limmud Torah

שבת קמז:

רבי אלעזר בן ערך איקלע להתם (עיר שהיה שם יין טוב וים יפה, ויכול להיות שהתכוונו על מיאמי) אימשיך בתרייהו איעקר תלמודיה כי הדר אתא קם למיקרי בספרא בעא למיקרא (שמות יב) "החדש הזה לכם." אמר "החרש היה לבם" בעו רבנן רחמי עליה והדר תלמודיה והיינו דתנן ר' נהוראי אומר הוי גולה למקום תורה ואל תאמר שהיא תבא אחריך שחבריך יקיימוה בידך ואל בינתך אל תשען

Shabbat 147b (Loosely translated)

Ribbi Elazar b. Arach traveled to a city known for its good wine and beautiful beaches, but which had no Torah. He was drawn after these pleasures, and as a result, forgot all of his limmud. When he returned from his vacation, they called him up to the sefer Torah for an aliya. His pasuk started off, "hachodesh haze lachem", but he could no longer differentiate between letters like כ and ב or ד and ר and read instead, "hacheresh haya libam".  His peers prayed that God might have mercy on him, and he regained his Torah. 

This is why R. Nehorai taught in a mishnah: It is preferable for someone to exile himself to a place of Torah than to sit around and wait for the Torah to find him. A person cannot assume that having friends that are knowledgeable or that being bright will save him from ignorance. 

When A"A shares this gemara, he emphasizes the fact that Ribbi Elazar b. Arach wasn't just some nobody- he was one of the tana'im. Nevertheless, by focusing his attention on the pleasures of life, even if they are within the realms of halacha, like good wine and nice beaches, he neglected his Torah to such an extreme that he forgot how to read. How much more so must we be cautious that the focus of our attention always remains Torah, and that we take an active role in educating ourselves. A passive attitude will not only restrict our growth, but will reduce us to ignorance.