Q&A: How to Devote Time to Studying Science?
How to Devote Time to Studying Science?
Question
According to Maimonides, this is a commandment—to study sciences and wisdom, etc. But in his words in the Mishneh Torah it is written that in one’s personal time when one is not working, one should set fixed times only for Torah (one-third Written Torah, one-third Oral Torah, and one-third understanding one thing from another), and not for worldly vanities. So the question is: how am I supposed to manage the time I have for both Torah and science? There seems to be a contradiction between his two statements.
Answer
First, you do not have to conduct yourself according to his statements. These are his recommendations, and you choose your own path. Second, according to Maimonides, science is Torah (“the greater matter”; the discussions of Abaye and Rava are “the lesser matter”).
Discussion on Answer
As I wrote, in his view science is Torah, and therefore it is included in Torah study (all the more so from the lesser matter to the greater matter). “Understanding one thing from another” simply means analytical Talmud study.
But if studying science is Torah study according to Maimonides, it follows that one may not make a living from engaging in science. After all, there is a prohibition against making a living from words of Torah. It comes out that according to Maimonides’ view, a person may not work in a scientific profession.
Just want to be precise. “The greater matter” was said about the Account of the Chariot, not about the Account of Creation. Seemingly this fits Maimonides’ view in the parable of the palace regarding the relationship between scientific and philosophical pursuits.
A,
maybe according to Maimonides it really is forbidden to make a living from that too. And maybe he also distinguishes between Torah as an object and Torah as pertaining to the person, as I suggested.
Yishai,
as far as I remember, for Maimonides the greater matter is both of them.
Rabbi, what is the source for saying that Maimonides regards science as Torah?
See, for example, a survey here: https://www.daat.ac.il/daat/mahshevt/dat/madaey-2.htm
And even though the sages called these things “the lesser matter,” for the sages said: “The greater matter is the Account of the Chariot, and the lesser matter is the discussions of Abaye and Rava,” nevertheless they are fitting to be taught first (Maimonides, Laws of the Foundations of the Torah, chapter 4, halakha 13).
Wait, Rabbi, if Maimonides says that science is like Torah, then when I study science, according to him apparently I should have in mind the command “and you shall meditate upon it day and night.”
But he explicitly says that during one’s free time in the day one should devote a third to Written Torah and Oral Torah and a third to understanding one thing from another. So first, how does that fit with what he says about studying science, and second, what does “understanding one thing from another” mean? Could that perhaps be the science being referred to here?