Q&A: Regarding Torah Study
Regarding Torah Study
Question
Hello Rabbi,
My name is M., second-year at a hesder yeshiva.
I saw a lecture of yours on YouTube dealing with the difference between the commandment of Torah study and the concept of “Talmud Torah.”
Among other things, you said that one does not study Torah in order to know the Jewish law; rather, one studies Torah in order to know it itself. Elsewhere in that same talk you said that the value of Torah lies in its being our way of connecting to the word of the Holy One, blessed be He.
I also thought this way until I came across an interesting and fairly well-known source:
Kiddushin 40:
"Rabbi Tarfon and the elders were once reclining in the upper story of the house of Nitza in Lod, when this question was asked before them: Is study greater, or is action greater? Rabbi Tarfon answered and said: Action is greater. Rabbi Akiva answered and said: Study is greater. They all answered and said: Study is greater, for study leads to action."
As the Rabbi himself said in the lecture—when we speak about study that leads to fulfillment, apparently the intent is not study that leads to observing the Jewish law, because observing the Jewish law obligates everyone anyway! It goes without saying that everyone needs to learn Jewish law!
If so, what is meant by the term “action” in that Talmudic passage?
If the point of Talmud Torah is knowing it, why is its greatness in the fact that it leads to action? You would expect its greatness to be in the study itself, as I had understood until now..
These things have left me confused, and I would be glad if you could help me resolve the contradiction.
Thank you,
Answer
In my view, the Talmud here is not determining the purpose of study or its importance, but rather the form of study. Torah study is study that ends in a practical conclusion.
Contrary to what you wrote, if this were a statement about the importance of study, then the claim would come out absurd: study is greater because it is a means to action. But a means is there to serve the end, so how could that explain why study is greater rather than action? Therefore I argue that the conclusion is about the form of study: they all concluded that meaningful and proper study is the kind that leads to action.
If you heard the lecture, I assume you also heard the proofs I brought for this.
All the best,