The pasuk says ‘a man who dies in the tent’ (19;14), which chazal darshen to mean ‘torah words are only kept within someone who kills himself over them’ (gemarra brachos 63b). What does this mean – we are surely not obligated to die learning torah if one of the main mitzvahs is to live? The Chofetz Chaim explains that the message here is that when one is learning Torah they are supposed to see themselves as dead – ucontactable. Just as a dead person cannot be contacted, so too when one is learning Torah they should shut themselves off and make sure nobody else can disturb them from their learning session. And nowadays that would include turning phones off, I assume!
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