Q&A: Prizes for Torah Study
Prizes for Torah Study
Question
Hello and blessings.
I was asked whether it is permissible to take part in a certain program in which one takes a test on a particular tractate, and if one gets a good grade, one “wins” a valuable prize—such as books and the like… (we are talking about seventeen-year-old yeshiva boys).
I was asked whether this involves Torah study not for its own sake, because: a. they focus you on which questions will be on the test, and b. a boy might have been studying a different tractate the week before the test, and “in honor of” the test he switches tractates for that purpose…
Does this fall under “Do not be like servants who serve the rabbi on condition of receiving a reward,” etc., or under the category of Torah study not for its own sake? Is it advisable not to do this, or yes? And is this a rule for everyone, or only for those who do not study for its own sake?
Answer
One must distinguish between two different questions: 1. Is it advisable to study this way (because if one studies for a test geared toward specific questions, one does not study the tractate in a serious and comprehensive way)? 2. Is this study not for its own sake?
Regarding the first question, this is simple common sense. Obviously, if this kind of study is less beneficial for you, then it is a less good form of study—but that has nothing to do with studying not for its own sake. Changing tractates is not problematic, since what makes this one better than that one?! The same is true of focusing on topics that will appear in the questions. As long as these too are topics worth studying, they are no worse than the topics you would have studied without the test.
Regarding the second question, clearly this is study not for its own sake, but the Sages already said that this is preferable to not studying at all. If you have the option of studying for its own sake, that is of course preferable. But study not for its own sake is not a transgression, so this is not a question of Jewish law.
A general note: if you would have studied the same material even without the test, and you take the test only in order to earn money, there is no problem here at all regarding studying for its own sake or the usefulness of the study. In that case, the only possible issue is taking money for a commandment (and especially for Torah study, as Maimonides writes about one who makes his living from Torah study).