Q&A: Torah Study on a Torah Level Regarding Rabbinic Laws
Torah Study on a Torah Level Regarding Rabbinic Laws
Question
Hello and blessings.
It is well known that Torah-level commandments have a different status from rabbinic commandments, and there is much extensive discussion about this.
My question is whether there is also a different status for studying Torah-level commandments as opposed to rabbinic commandments. When a person studies the laws of cooking on the Sabbath, is he studying Torah on a Torah level, whereas when he studies the laws of eruvin he is studying Torah on a rabbinic level?
If we say so, is there any practical difference that follows from it?
If not, what is the explanation and reasoning?
Has this question been discussed in various works?
Thank you very much
Answer
A very good question. I have indeed been bothered by this question several times in the past. The accepted view is that it is all Torah study, but in my humble opinion the essence of Torah study is primarily the study of Torah-level laws. The rest derives from “do not veer aside,” but that is mainly with respect to the duty to obey, and it is hard to understand why that would make it Torah in its essence. Perhaps this should be connected to the distinction drawn by the author of Nefesh HaChaim in Gate 4 between the word of God (aggadic literature) and the will of God (Jewish law). It is possible that rabbinic laws are called the word of God, but not really the will of God. Or perhaps it is דווקא the will of God, since after all He wants us to observe the instructions of the Sages, and that itself is what makes it Torah.
Discussion on Answer
I clearly remember that in one of the pamphlets of Rabbi Steinman, of blessed memory, they wrote in his name that one who studies rabbinic laws does not fulfill the Torah-level commandment of Torah study.
It is hard to understand: if rabbinic enactments are included within the legal system according to the Torah (the authority of the Sages derives from the Written Torah), why shouldn’t this count as full Torah study?
It is not included in the Torah but in Jewish law (= what one has to do). Like state laws, which obligate because of the law of the kingdom is law, but studying them is not Torah study. Similarly, if a person makes several vows, they obligate him by force of “he shall not break his word,” but studying their content is not Torah study.
Shetz"l, where are you?
And to our Rabbi — if there really is a difference in the level of obligation between Torah study on a Torah level and on a rabbinic level, then when a person faces a dilemma about what to study, should he take this question into account among his considerations?
Suppose I am debating which kollel to join — should I prefer a kollel that studies Torah-level laws?
Hello Rabbi,
I would be glad for an answer to the previous question, and one further comment:
I see that you went farther than I did. I suggested in my question that studying rabbinic laws is “rabbinic-level Torah study,” whereas from your words I infer that there is no Torah study of any kind involved at all.
A: Why shouldn’t we say that this is at least a rabbinic commandment of Torah study, just as the Sages expanded other commandments (for example, on a Torah level only a wool garment is obligated in tzitzit, and rabbinically other materials as well), so too we should say that on a Torah level only Torah-level laws are “Torah,” and rabbinically rabbinic laws are as well.
B: If indeed there is no commandment of Torah study in this, then if someone recited the blessings on Torah study and throughout the whole day did not study any Torah-level laws, was his blessing in vain?
I answered, and I don’t know where it disappeared to. It seems obvious to me that it is preferable to study Torah-level laws, and this is so even aside from the commandment of Torah study. Study is understanding the will of God, and that is realized in Torah-level laws.
Where did you see in my words that there is no Torah study here at all? It is possible that this is rabbinic-level Torah study, and that is even plausible (though not necessary). And perhaps there is even Torah-level Torah study here. But in essence it is clear that it is preferable to study the will of God.
With God's help, at the conclusion of Kallah, chapter 2.
There is a responsum on the site "Din" on the question of whether studying rabbinic laws constitutes Torah study on a Torah level. There is also discussion of this on the "Otzar HaChochma Forum."
Best regards, Elisaf Gershon Brotzki Bar-Tzuk
I don’t know whether this has been discussed (I assume it has). Shetz"l (one of the surfers here) will surely be able to help us here.