The Proper Amount of Torah Study
Understanding Aggada
Yeshivat Har Etzion
Shiur #23b: The Proper
Amount of Torah Study
By Rav Yitzchak Blau
These are the things
that have no fixed amount: The corner of the field, the first fruits
and the
study of Torah (talmud Torah).
(Pe'a
1:1)
Rabbi Yochanan said in
the name of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai: "Even if one recites only Keriat
Shema in the morning and the evening, he has fulfilled 'This book of the
Torah must never depart from your mouth' (Yehoshua 1:8), but it is forbidden to
teach this to the ignorant." Rava
said: "It is a mitzva to teach this to the ignorant."
(Menachot
99b)
The closing debate in
Menachot raises an interesting educational question: is it preferable not to
inform the masses about the ease with which one can technically fulfill the
mitzva of Torah study, thereby encouraging them to learn more than is
required? Or is it better to teach
them the minimum requirement, in the hope that this will encourage them to begin
the endeavor with small steps and to grow from there?
In the continuation of this gemara, Rabbi Yishma'el seems to take the
position that a person should be learning Torah all day. The ambiguity about how demanding the
obligation of talmud Torah is emerges from the mishna in Pe'a as well:
what does it mean that this mitzva has no fixed amount? The Tiferet Yisra'el and others explain
that neither a minimum nor a maximum exists. On the one hand, if one recites just the
Shema, already obligatory on its own merit, one has fulfilled the mitzva; on the
other hand, the more a person learns, the better.
Rabbi Mei'ir Simcha of Dvinsk offers an insightful explanation for this
flexibility in his Or Samei'ach (Hilkhot Talmud Torah 1:2). He explains that the mitzvot are meant to
be, for the most part, equally binding on all Jews. This universalizing quality of mitzvot
conveys the idea that Judaism is not reserved for a small elite; rather, it
applies equally to all. Thus, every
Jew has the same obligation to eat matza on Pesach or to make Kiddush on
Shabbat. However, the extent to
which some Jewish ideals should be applied depends a great deal upon the person
being commanded. For example, the
Torah does not give precise guidelines with regard to character traits, such as
pride or anger, because the proper amount of these traits depends a great deal
on the person and his or her context. When it comes to such subjective mitzvot,
the Torah does not explicate all the variables; instead, it offers a baseline
obligation that applies to each and every Jew.
According to Rabbi Mei'ir Simcha, the study of the Torah is just such a
mitzva. It depends a great deal on
certain factors, such as whether one already supports a family, one's
intellectual abilities and one's ability to concentrate diligently. Therefore, the Torah demands just a
modicum of learning each morning and each evening as a minimum obligation for
all. Of course, each individual
should challenge himself or herself to learn more, to the best of their
capability.
I would also add that the desired amount of Torah study not only varies
from person to person but also from stage to stage in a person's life. When a person works long hours and comes
home to take care of children, a relatively short dose of daily learning is
heroic and impressive. When a
person studies in yeshiva, the goal becomes nothing less than a full day. May we succeed at reaching our learning
potential and understand the varying energies to invest in talmud Torah
at the different stages in our life.
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