Studying Halachah daily required?

Question

Read somewhere that one must be sure that in addition to any daily study of Tanach, Mishnah and Gemara, to study books of Halachah.

Does anyone know where the source for this can be found?

Answer 1

Study of halacha is obviously necessary to facilitate proper practice. For this reason it is unsurprising that many poskim write that if one has a limited amount of time, study of practical halakha must come first.

For example the Derisha (YD 256) writes:

יש בעלי בתים נוהגין ללמוד בכל יום גפ"ת ולא שאר פוסקים ... אבל לי נראה כי לא זאת המרגוע ולא בזאת יתהלל המתהלל כי אם בזאת יתהלל השכל וידוע בספרי פוסקים דיני תורה כגון "האלפסי" "והמרדכי" "והרא"ש" ודומיהם דזהו שורש ועיקר לתורתנו ואינם יוצאים כלל בלימוד "גמרא פירוש תוספות"... ומ"ש רבינו תם כאן תלמוד בבלי בלול וכו' קאי אמה שכתב רבינו לפני זה אלימוד תשע שעות ביום דכיון שיש לו פנאי גדול ילמוד בתלמוד אבל הנך בעלי בתים שאינם לומדים כי אם ג' או ד' שעות לא ילמדו בתלמוד לחוד כנ"ל.

There are some laymen who are accustomed to study the Talmud with the commentaries of Rashi and the Tosafists, but not the (other) poskim... However, it appears to me that this is not the point, and one not ought take pride in this; the only thing one ought take pride in is in the mastery of the works of the poskim such as those of al-Fasi, R. Mordehai, Rosh, and the like. For this is the root and foundation of our Torah. And they do not discharge their obligation (to study) at all with the (mere) study of the Talmud with the commentaries of Rashi and the Tosafists...And that which Rabbenu Tam wrote, [that the Babylonian Talmud incorporates all of the necessary components of study] that applies in a such a case illustrated previously, of one who studies nine hours a day. Since he has so much time, he can (afford) to study Talmud. But those laymen, who only study three or four hours, they should not merely study the Talmud, as explained.

This is cited by the Shakh there as well.

Citing the Shakh, the Mishnah Berurah (155:3) writes:

ללמוד - חייב אדם ללמוד בכל יום תורה שבכתב שהוא תנ"ך ומשנה וגמרא ופוסקים ובעלי בתים שאינם לומדים רק ג' או ד' שעות ביום לא ילמדו בגמרא לחוד דבזה אינו יוצא אלא צריך שילמוד דוקא גם ספרי פוסקים כל אחד כפי השגתו [שו"ע יו"ד וש"ך שם]

Each day one must study the Written Law, which is Tanakh, and Mishnah, and Talmud and Poskim. And laymen who only learn for three or four hours, should not study Talmud exclusively, for with this they do not discharge their obligation. Rather one must learn the works of the poskim in particular.

It should be noted that the Mishanh Berurah tones down the Derisha who seemed to advocate primarily studying poskim,and emphasized instead the need to also learn poskim. Either way, the question of whether one must study halakha daily, is answered with a clear: affirmative.

Answer 2

The end of Gemara Meseches Niddah says this:

תנא דבי אליהו כל השונה הלכות בכל יום מובטח לו שהוא בן העולם הבא שנאמר הליכות עולם לו אל תקרי הליכות אלא הלכות

Very old fashioned English translation I found online (halakhah.com):

The Tanna debe Eliyahu [teaches]: Whoever repeats Halachahs every day may rest assured that he will be a denizen of the world to come, for it is said, Halikoth — the world is his; read not halikoth but halakoth.

Answer 3

Apparently, the tosafot on the popular "shlish bimikra, shlish bimishna, shliah bitalmud" gemara remarks that Mishna is the study of halacha. At the moment, I don't have access to sources to link here, but I will edit when I can (or someone else can comment/edit)