Q&A: A Question About Torah Study — Following the Recent Interview in Makor Rishon
A Question About Torah Study — Following the Recent Interview in Makor Rishon
Question
Hello Rabbi Michael,
After inquiring after your well-being and wishing you all the best…,
I wanted to understand how you view the very great importance of Torah study.
If Kant is preferable to the Guide for the Perplexed (in matters of faith and thought), what is there in Torah study that makes it worth studying?
There are commandments. Let the halakhic decisors teach us how to observe them.
Why is it important that I, as a person who is not a halakhic decisor, study Torah?
And also in light of the fact that you described yourself as not experiencing religiosity, don’t you have a religious experience in Torah study?
Thank you,
Answer
The purpose of study is not to know what to do; rather, study is a value in itself (cleaving to the Holy One, blessed be He, according to Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin).
It rather surprises me that in your view, if the study involved aggadah then yes, there would be reason to study, but not in the case of Jewish law. Let literary scholars study aggadah.
I explained these matters in detail in my trilogy.