Questions tagged [torah-study]
Questions about the mitzvah to study Torah, and the nature of Torah study. This tag is not intended to be a general tag about Torah. Almost every question on the site is about Torah in some sense. If your question is about a passage in the Bible, try one of the book tags.
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Was the Chasam Sofer known for having an interesting way of learning?
I have a lot of experience learning Gemara and find myself oft dealing with the views of the Achronim to understand the Pshat in Rishonim. Unfortunately, I have inside me a slight aversion to the ...
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The Alter Rebbe's view of chazarah - is it followed in practice?
Related: comment thread in What should a Jew learn regularly?
In the end of the Shulchan Aruch Harav Yoreh Deah, chelek ה, the Alter Rebbe has a wonderful exposition on the laws of Talmud Torah. In ...
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Is learning Sifrei Neviim a fulfillment of the mitzvah to listen to a Navi?
There's a Torah commandment to listen to a navi. As far as I know, there are no neviim around nowadays to listen to, but we do have books written by the neviim.
If you learn Navi and do your best to ...
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Sources that allow "important women" to be taught/learn Torah?
The Shulchan Aruch (YD 246) codifies the law that women should not be taught the Oral Law. It seems it is also not the best thing to teach even the Written Law, but that if you do, it's not the same ...
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Baalei Batim and Daf Yomi versus Learning Halachah
Today, many baalei batim center their learning around gemara bavli, for example through programs like daf yomi. But the Drisha and Shach write that for those who aren't learning all day it's more ...
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Earliest source for teaching Torah in secret to hide from the Romans
A number of online sources (such as this article by Rabbi Ari Enkin, or this article by Rabbi Yair Hoffman) mention the tradition that rabbonim used to go out into the woods and teach Torah while ...
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For the Sake of an Argument?
In the Mishna, Miqvaos 7:1, Rabbi Akiva quotes Rabbi Ishmael as having declared that snow does not count towards the completion of a mikva, but the people of Meibeba then testify that Rabbi Ishmael ...
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Source for Chazon Ish on What defines a Lamdan
I recently read an article and the author wrote the following:
"The Chazon Ish described the true lamdan as “someone who spends three hours preparing to deliver a five-minute shiur, and when he is ...
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Why isn't midrash rabbah learnt as much as other commentaries
I feel like there's more of a stress to learn other commentaries, and midrash rabbah and tanchuma are just nice things extra if you want to. I see amazing droshos in the midrash, and was wondering why ...
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How did the older Torah books look formatting wise?
I'm wondering what the sort of evolution of the Torah's syntactic / punctuation structure looks like. Were the books always divided into "books" with titles like Genesis (in Hebrew of course)? Were ...
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Aryeh Kaplan and Talmud memorization
Aryeh Kaplan’s Jewish Meditation, page 27:
I recall that when I was in yeshivah, a few friends and I decided to have a contest to see who could memorize the most pages of Talmud. For me, it was an ...
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Why no Kaddish DeRabbanan at Minchah?
Rambam writes in Seder HaTefillah:
קדיש דרבנן כל עשרה מישראל או יתר שעוסקין בתלמוד תורה שעל פה ואפילו במדרשות או בהגדות כשהן מסיימין אומר אחד מהן קדיש
Kaddish DeRabbanan: Anytime ten or more ...
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Vilna Gaon -- mini nevuah after six hours of study?
In Aish Moharan1, Rav Berland cites the Vilna Gaon as having said that after six hours of uninterrupted Torah study, the first thoughts a person has are a form of mini nevuah (prophecy).
כמו שמובא ...
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Using Torah as a punishment
I remember hearing or seeing somewhere that a Rebbi who uses the Torah for a punsihment can make a student hate Torah. For example,a boy speaks in class ,then the Rebbi makes the boy write over a ...
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Is there a need to to know the deceased's name when studying in his merit?
I have been asked many times by friends to study (usually Mishanyos) as a merit for their recently deceased relative. In most such occasions, I was given the deceased's name, in order to have them in ...
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Are we allowed to assume that a Rabbi may have not thought of something?
Sometimes in reading a difficult Rishon or Acharon, you come across a statement which seems limited and difficult to understand. Sometimes it's what seems to be an answer to a question which skims ...
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Are you allowed to recite a verse from Tanach by heart while reviewing Mishnayos?
According to those who hold that it is forbidden to recite a verse from Tanach by heart even for yourself, would it be permitted if he is quoting it from a Mishnah while reviewing it by heart?
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The relationship between Rabbi Akiva and his wife
The Talmud tells us about the relationship between Rabbi Akiva and his wife:
The daughter of Ben Kalba Savua told [Akiva]: If I betroth myself to you, will you go ... learn Torah? He said: Yes... He ...
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“Einstein ketzos”
Shalom chevra, I have heard that the ketzos hachoshen on the sugya of matana al menas lehachzir is called the “Einstein ketzos”. If someone knows why that is, and can let us know that would be great!
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Source of a story about Rav Salanter and limited time to learn Torah
Is there an authentic source for the below story?
The story is told of a man who asked Rabbi Yisroel Salanter a question. "Rebbi, I have only 15 minutes a day to learn Torah. What should I study?" ...
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Can I make a siyum on audio lessons?
I learned an entire Talmudic tractate by listening to audio lessons, without actually reading any words from the printed text. May I make a siyum?
It appears that "shomea k'oneh" wouldn't ...
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Shabbat 9 Av: Marital relations vs Torah study
Shulchan Aruch Yoreh De'ah 400:2 rules that a mourner observes the private mourning practices of shiv'ah on shabbat. This includes not engaging in marital relations, not washing in warm water and not ...
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Considerations for an Orthodox to teach in Reform/Conservative school
There is a question for an Orthodox Jew to teach Torah in a Reform or Conservative school. What are the two sides of the question?
Does Rav Moshe Feinstein or other poskim in print address it?
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What is the minimum of learning to say Kaddish d’Rabanan?
What is the minimum amount of study one has to learn or hear in order to say Kaddish d’rabanan? Is there a certain Halacha which states how much or what is the minimum one needs to learn?
Also, a ...
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Mir smicha qualifications
Rabbi Finkel from Mir would give Smicha as follows. He would randomnly take out one of the volumes of Shulchan Aruch (any section)and randomly open the page - and show it to the testee. He would then ...
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Is it forbidden to learn Hebrew/Aramaic during Tisha B Av?
Hebrew and Aramaic are languages of Jewish sefarim (religious books) and it is forbidden to learn/read sefarim during Tisha B Av because it gives joy to man to do so.
Is it then likewise forbidden to ...
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Morning seder as the "main" seder
In most Yeshivas with which I am familiar, morning seder, the regimen of learning before lunch, is the more in-depth and intense learning seder, while afternoon seder (session) is generally less in-...
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Secular sources with Torah wisdom
Some secular books have a hefty amount of wisdom that we find in our Torah sources. For example, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has a lot of almost verbatim lessons from Pirkei Avos, although ...
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Slide Rule on Shabbos/Yom Tov
May a slide rule (mechanical device before calculators) can be used on Shabbos for Gemara calculations?
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Answering someone's questions
It says in Kedushin Daf 30:
תנו רבנן ושננתם שיהו דברי תורה מחודדים בפיך שאם ישאל לך אדם דבר אל
תגמגם ותאמר לו אלא אמור לו מיד שנאמר אמור אמור לחכמה אחותי את וגו
Chazal are telling us that one ...
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Making siyum on learning that "over laps"
A person started learning a mesecta. When he got through half the mesecta he continued learning however he also went back and started learning from the beginning again. He got to the end of the ...
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Resources to improve my Hebrew to learn Halachic works?
My Hebrew is solid - I am able to get around Israel. When I learn works of Halacha (Aruch HaShulchan, Mishna Berura, Kitzur) I am not able to follow due to not knowing words and acronyms. What is a ...
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Learning advice from the Chazon Ish
The Chazon Ish, in his sefer Kovetz Igros Chazon Ish (paragraph 3), mentions a certain advice concerning Torah study.
Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt"l mentions this teaching in his Orchos Yosher (p. 172; ...
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Who teaches Tanakh?
I would like to study Tanakh in its entirety with a focus on dikduk, hebrew language, basic meaning/commentators, and possibly cantillation. I am not very self-motivated so I would prefer to join a ...
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Rambam and Mitzvas Talmud Torah
As opposed to other Codifiers of Halacha (e.g. Shulchan Aruch Harav see Hilchos Talmud Torah 1:1, 2:1 and the Kuntres Acharon there) the Rambam famously doesn't provide the reasons for the Mitzvahs ...
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Kotzker Rebbe on two yetzer haras: One before you and one after you
I heard recently a devar Torah where the Rav quoted the Kotzker Rebbe as saying a phrase in Yiddish (which I don't remember/didn't understand), something of the likes of: "it's late, but never ...
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Where is the rest of Rabbi Shmuel Belkin's manuscript of The Midrash of Philo?
I am currently researching Philo of Alexandria, also known as Philon (פילון) or Yedidyah HaKohen of Alexandria.
There is a book that was prepared in manuscript by Rabbi Shmuel (Samuel) Belkin, z”l, ...
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Do olives affect Torah study?
I am puzzled by this line in the Gemara, based on a baraita:
Olive oil [restores forgotten Torah study]... Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Just as eating an olive causes one to forget seventy years’ worth of ...
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Teaching Torah to circumcised non-Jews
In his supercommentary to Rashi Genesis 7:2, R. Yissechar Ber Eilenberg cites the following from his teacher R. Mordecha Yaffe:
וטעם שאסור ללמוד תורה לגוי הוא מפני הערלה שבו ויש בו סוד שלא להכניס ...
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Is it preferable to learn torah related to biblical obligations over learning torah related to rabbinic obligations?
If all things are equal is there any reason to give preference to studying torah about a biblical obligation over studying torah about a rabbinic obligation? In general we give precedence to biblical ...
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What is "finishing Torah" and how it stems from Solomon's prophecy?
One of the sources for celebrating finishing a Talmud tractate is in Kohelet Raba 1, 1 (or almost same in Shir Hashirim Rabah):
...,אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק: חֲלוֹם עוֹמֵד עַל כַּנּוֹ
,"מִיָּד "...
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Studying versus doing
In commenting on Leviticus 26:14, Or HaChaim argues that if you study the details of the sacrifices today, when you cannot actually do them, you have fulfilled the commandments on sacrifices better ...
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Why isn't there kaddish derabanan after the "sermon"?
The related question discusses what kind of learning is needed to bring forth a kaddish derabanan. In many minyanim, some learning (or a two-minute quick drash by someone) is undertaken between mincha ...
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Is academic Jewish studies considered learning torah?
Would the academic study of Judaism such as a typical bible studies course taught in a Jewish Studies department at a University qualify as torah study? I am curious about this both halachicly - would ...
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Melody for Studying Mishneh Torah
When in Israel I went to a Temani synagogue named Beit Kenesseth haRambam and after services they study a bit of the Mishneh Torah but to my surprise the entire community chanted the Mishneh Torah in ...
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How much time does it generally take to get Semicha?
What is the average amount of time that it takes to get Yoreh Yoreh Smicha?
Yadin Yadin?
And in Israel to pass each of the Rabannut tests? To get "Rav Shchuna"? "Rav Ir"?
I understand that it ...
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Arguing with the Rishonim
Is there an accepted understanding among Orthodox Jews that an Achron cannot argue with a Rishon (Torah scholars who lived between the years 1000 and 1500)? If so,what is this concept based on and ...
- 4,993
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Did the Vilna Gaon study Torah on Christmas?
I'm looking for some information (sourced) about the Vilna Gaon and Nittelnacht. Did the Vilna Gaon avoid the study of Torah on the night of Nittel (Christmas) as was done by some European ...
- 4,993
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Is it okay for a gentile to study Torah if the goal is to get closer to HaShem?
If a gentile is studying Torah but not to imitate the Jews and "hijack" the Torah and respect the boundaries between The Jews and Gentiles, yet he/she wants to study Torah (both written and oral) ...
- 1,955
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Secular books for Torah study
If one is reading a secular book about electricity in order to understand how it works so that I can learn the halachos of using electricity on Shabbos, would the studying of the secular book be ...
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