Q&A: Sacred Study
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Sacred Study
Question
There are laws governing Torah study—not to study in unclean places, and that studying it is a positive commandment. What is included in “sacred study”?
In Column 113 you explained that Hasidism is not Torah; does that mean it is not sacred study? What about The Guide for the Perplexed and the First Existent—are those also not included? What about Mesillat Yesharim?
And if they are included, where is the boundary? Are Aristotle’s books also sacred study? And what about Critique of Pure Reason?
Answer
I discussed this at length in the second book of the trilogy. There is an entire long chapter devoted to all of this.