Q&A: Torah Study for a Gentile
Torah Study for a Gentile
Question
Hello Rabbi,
In several places you have presented that the reason to study Torah is not the commandment of Torah study itself, but that this is the way to cleave to God (and to His will). If so, why should a gentile not study Torah? (Similar to women, who are not obligated in the commandment of Torah study, yet still engage in Torah study; or alternatively, the study of topics that are not currently relevant to Jewish law in practice, such as sacrifices, etc. — perhaps that is the gentile’s situation with regard to the entire Torah: cleaving to God’s will, but without practical halakhic significance.)
Answer
In principle, you are right. But if he wants to study Torah, let him convert. That is the way to cleave to the Holy One, blessed be He, through the Torah. To study without converting means to study without observing, and the study is emptied of most of its significance (even though observance is not the purpose of study, it is a condition for the study to have meaning. Somewhat analogous to the Second Passover sacrifice, which is not compensation for the first, yet one who observed the first is exempt from the second).
A gentile who comes to the realization that he wants to study Torah as God’s will, in order to cleave to Him and His will, is essentially already a convert. And perhaps the prohibition against his studying comes to make sure that he really does convert, and does not leave the study as something intellectually empty (without observance).