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Q&A: Investigating the Soul as Part of the Commandment of Torah Study

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Investigating the Soul as Part of the Commandment of Torah Study

Question

True, I’ve already discussed this topic here on the site a bit, but I still need clarification and a deeper look into the issue:
I am currently engaged in academic study about the soul/psyche (with the hope of earning a doctorate in the field),
I am a yeshiva graduate and I want my studies to be a continuation of my Torah study in yeshiva.
The Rabbi wrote that if one studies any subject with the goal of knowing God ("to know the word of God"), it is considered Torah study.
My question is: can my studies be considered Torah study if the goal of the study is to understand the motivations and meaning of religion within the human soul?
Or in other words: is it possible to give my studies the value of Torah study?
 
Thank you in advance
 

Answer

Hello Shay. In that formulation, it seems to me that maybe yes. Though I hesitate, because the line between preparations for a commandment and the commandment itself is not sharp. For example, studying mathematics does not seem to me to be Torah study, even though one can make use of it for distinctly Torah needs (even halakhic ones). Take, for example, a factual inquiry carried out by a religious court or a halakhic decisor in order to reach a ruling. I do not know from what point that is considered Torah study. I don’t know how to draw the line, but that also isn’t really so important. Even if it is only preparation for a commandment, it still has great value, and it is fitting to do it. At most, one should not recite the blessing over Torah study. By the way, broadening one’s horizons and education is also a value in my view, even if we do not define it as preparation for the commandment of Torah study proper. What I have defined here in several places (you can search the site) as Torah in the person is something that adds an essential dimension to my religious worldview, and is not merely a preparatory tool for one particular detail or another. And again, the line is not sharp. 

Discussion on Answer

Shay Zilberstein (2017-12-20)

All right, I’ll phrase the question differently:
I’m looking for academic study that would serve as a continuation of my Torah study in yeshiva.
Is there a particular degree that fits those definitions—one that is not Torah in the object, but Torah in the person?

Michi (2017-12-21)

I continue to insist on avoiding an answer.
I don’t think it’s possible to set a universal rule. Each person according to what builds him. In my view, the humanities and psychology are mostly nonsense, but in the eyes of others they aren’t. I also don’t think the criterion of what counts as Torah study is the right criterion. Study what matters to you and what seems beneficial to you.

An Annoying Student (2017-12-24)

Continuing the discussion:
It still hasn’t been clarified for me what the definition of "Torah in the person" is.
If studying philosophy leads me to greater depth in Torah study (it builds foundational assumptions for me, on the basis of which I can understand the essence of religion and Torah—for example, what Maimonides did with Aristotle, explaining the Torah according to his philosophical approach), is that what is meant by "Torah in the person," or is that only "preparation for the commandment" of Torah study?

Michi (2017-12-24)

If by means of them you can understand Torah better, then it is only preparation for a commandment. If those understandings are understandings with value in and of themselves, that is Torah in the person.

Shay Zilberstein (2017-12-24)

Just to be precise, the question is what are "understandings that have value in themselves"?
If, for example, I study Leibowitz’s "Body and Soul," where he explains the psychophysical problem, does that have the value of Torah because it explains to me that "we are not only physics"?
And likewise, if I study René Descartes’ arguments about the soul ("Meditations on First Philosophy"), about how it is more certain than the body and so on—is that Torah? Or Kant and the like?
It’s still not clear to me what an "argument with value" is…
After all, logic also has value, and it still isn’t considered "Torah."
Sorry for being so nitpicky; it’s just not sinking in for me…

Shay Zilberstein (2017-12-24)

Continuation of the previous comment:
Maybe the criterion can be based on what Maimonides wrote:
"A person loves the Holy One, blessed be He, only through the knowledge by which he knows Him, and according to the knowledge will be the love—if little, little; and if much, much. Therefore a person must devote himself to understanding and gaining wisdom in the sciences and insights that make his Creator known to him, according to the capacity that a person has to understand and attain, as we explained in the Laws of the Foundations of the Torah."
That is: something that brings one to knowledge of God (which leads to love of Him) is Torah.
Because if we say that "understandings that bring one to love of God" are not Torah—then how can Maimonides say that a person must devote himself to this discipline? Seemingly a person should devote himself to Torah.

Michi (2017-12-24)

Everything you wrote is correct. Those are insights with intrinsic value. By contrast, logic does not have intrinsic value, since it is merely a tool. Though if you were to engage in meta-logic (what it means, etc.), then perhaps you would touch on insights with intrinsic value. By way of analogy: if you study logic as a tool, that is preparatory; but if you study it as a way of understanding our mode of thinking, that is intrinsic value.
But I feel that we are grinding away at an unimportant topic. As stated, all these studies have value, whether as a tool or as an actual commandment. The practical difference is whether to recite the blessing over Torah study, or whether to study even when it doesn’t speak to me. That doesn’t seem to me to be what is bothering you. I think we’ve exhausted it.

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