Q&A: Torah Study and Halakhic Ruling
Torah Study and Halakhic Ruling
Question
Hello Rabbi,
In the lesson you gave the example of Torah study for women, which was supposed to strengthen the claim that the commandment of Torah study is study for the sake of learning, and not for the sake of fulfilling the commandment. But I didn’t understand, because the example דווקא seems to show that women are obligated to recite the blessing over Torah study even though they are only obligated in Torah study for the sake of fulfilling the commandment, and if the commandment of Torah study is only for the sake of learning, it would come out that they should not have to recite the blessing… So I’d be happy to understand why it was claimed that this strengthens the argument.
Thank you in advance.
Answer
My claim was that there we see that women are obligated to learn the Jewish laws relevant to them, even though according to the law of the Talmud and according to all halakhic decisors they are exempt from Torah study. Conclusion: studying in order to know what to do is not Torah study. QED.
What you are pointing out is that the words of the Magen Avraham and the Mishnah Berurah still require further clarification, since if they are exempt from Torah study, why should they recite a blessing? They apparently maintain that one recites a blessing even if one is not obligated in the commandment itself, but only belongs to it in some way. But whatever the case, the proof from their words still stands (I assumed that they certainly do not disagree that women are exempt from the commandment of Torah study).
But precisely on that basis I argue that the assumption of the Mishnah Berurah and the Magen Avraham is incorrect. This is not a blessing over a commandment but a blessing of praise, and therefore the question does not arise in the first place.