Question

Two questions, regarding two different lectures.

1. Regarding the lecture you gave to the French group, about the method of learning: one could also suggest a somewhat more complex model of study, based on the view that the goal is the observance of Jewish law, and that the study itself is also a commandment. Just as there is a commandment to know the laws of tefillin, there is a commandment to know Torah, even if it has no practical relevance, and in that way the commandment is fulfilled. So of course study of this kind also needs to be kept in proportion, because it is a commandment and not the ultimate purpose, but it still has its place.
2. Regarding the Amos Oz parable: perhaps his mistake is in how he understands the way laws work. That is, he understood Jewish law and its rules (or ways of thinking and their rules) as rigid rules that cannot be moved from at all—like a soldier on a chessboard that you cannot move—and then indeed the number of possibilities becomes reduced. You, as someone coming from within the system, understand that there is a bit more flexibility in the rules, and therefore in practice this allows for more creativity.