Q&A: Is There a Torah-Study Commandment to Clarify the Commandment of Torah Study?
Is There a Torah-Study Commandment to Clarify the Commandment of Torah Study?
Question
I saw your wonderful article about the commandment of Torah study in the object itself, and I wondered: does one need to recite the blessings over Torah study before reading your article that defines the commandment of Torah study in the object itself, etc.?… Where is the boundary here?… Is there any clear boundary at all?… Your opinion?
Answer
I really don’t know of any clear boundary. When people ask about a halakhic line of reasoning, sometimes that leads into philosophical reasoning. There is quite a large gray area, but there are still apparently two clear-cut sides on either end.
Discussion on Answer
At least I don’t know how to determine it.
Studying Torah without reciting the blessing beforehand does not invalidate it. And it doesn’t even diminish the commandment. The blessings were instituted by the Sages in order to get into our heads who is commanding us and what He wants; that’s why they instituted a blessing for everything.
As I wrote in the title, the substance of the question is whether there is any commandment here at all (and not only whether there is room to recite a blessing, which is really a secondary question).
If I understood correctly, you’re saying that basically it’s almost impossible to determine anything definitive here.