Q&A: What Counts as Torah in the Concrete Sense?
What Counts as Torah in the Concrete Sense?
Question
Hello Rabbi,
What is the halakhic definition of words of Torah about which it is said “for he has despised the word of the Lord,” so that it is forbidden to read them in a bathroom; about which it is said that they take precedence over life-saving commandments (when the act can be done by someone else); about which it is said that teaching them to women is like teaching frivolity; about which it is said that they are equal to all the other commandments; about which it is said that even for the building of the Temple one does not interrupt the schoolchildren of the teacher’s house from their study; and so on?
Is one allowed to enter a bathroom with the Maharal or Ramchal (assuming no verses or halakhic rulings are mentioned there), just as one may enter with Aristotle’s Metaphysics or Kant’s book about his categorical imperative?
Is it permitted to sit or step in front of the above books, or even to have marital relations in their presence?
Answer
In my opinion, in terms of content there is no difference between these books and Kant or Aristotle. But there are verses there, so in practice there is a difference.
Discussion on Answer
I wrote that in my opinion, yes.
Is there anyone who disagrees with you and has reasonable arguments?
If I censor all the references and verses that appear there, is it permitted to take them into the bathroom?