In learning iyun there is a critical distinction to make in how it is that you're relating to the Torah in terms of what the Torah really is.  

When we talk about learning the Torah sh’baal peh, the oral Torah, what do we mean?  

One perspective is that the Torah sh’baal peh is something that happens somewhere else. The Torah is something that is happening on the page, that is happening in Rashi, the Rishonim are the Torah sh’baal peh, the Acharonim are the Torah sh’baal peh, or even the maggid shiur. He's the Torah and and the students are like spectators. They come and they watch someone else learn and they learn from him. They see what he did and the kind of questions he asked. But primarily, it's more of a spectator sport. For example, like going to a basketball game. So, you are watching professional athletes. It is very exciting and you could see the kind of moves they make and what they are. You'll see the game at a level that is beyond what you are capable of. That for sure has value and is important; but you are a spectator.  

A different way to relate to it that I think is more accurate is that the Torah sh’baal peh is not anything on any of the pages. It is not in the Gemara or in Rashi or in the Rishonim or in the Achronim. Torah sh’baal peh is what takes place in the shiur. That is the Torah. The questions that the students are asking, the answers that they're giving. The interaction with the maggid shiur and the shackle v’tarya, the back and forth that's happening there live in the shiur - that is the Torah sh’baal peh. As opposed to coming to watch somebody play basketball, this is like you're playing yourself; you're actually playing the game. 

So now you are playing the game as the Chazon Ish, or the Shach, or Rashi or any of the Rishonim. You're not a professional athlete to the extent that they are, but it is the same game with the same rules, the same ball, the same court. And if you can transmit it to someone, how you play basketball, and teach them how to do it. They're playing the same game that the professionals are. It's not at the same level. It's not at the with the same level of professionalism, but it is still exactly the same basketball game that you're watching. And, besides the fact that it is so much more engaging for people to be playing themselves, I also believe that that is the truth of how we are meant to relate to the Torah.  

The Torah is something that we create. It is something that in exploring and trying to understand it, we need to recognize that that is the Torah. It shifts the focus from something happening out there on the page, to something that's happening in me and in us as a group. It is a critical shift to make. Not to take away from the value of learning the Rishonim and the Acharonim. Obviously, we sit at their feet, and we learn from them. But what I am learning from them is how do you play this? What are the rules for learning the gemara? Then I take that, and I apply it. And now when I am learning and I'm creating the Torah sh’baal peh together with my chavrusa, together with my shiur and with my maggid shiur. Now I know what the rules are. I know how to do it and that what I am producing is not any less genuine Torah than was produced by anyone who came before me.