Joodse traditie als permanent leren

195.

invalid, whether he be young or very old. Even the beggar who goes from door to door, and even a married man with a large family, must appoint some fixed time for study, both by day and by night, as it is said, "And thou shalt meditate thereon both by day and by night" (Josh. 1:8),

If he be very pressed for time and has read only the She ma, both morning and evening, this suffices to fulfill the command. "My words which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed" (Isa, 59:21).

One who has given some decision of Jewish law without being paid therefor, or who has taught children without pay, can reckon this as fulfilling the command of fixed daily study. But if these actions are done for pay, they cannot be reckoned as satisfying the command for fixed daily study.

One who cannot learn because he is totally ignorant, or because of the distraction of his occupation, must make it possible for others to learn.

Then it is reckoned to him as if he himself is studying, A man may make an agreement that another man should occupy himself with the study of Torah on condition that the former supplies the latter with his means of livelihood; they then share the reward. But if the former is already engaged in the study of the Torah, he may not sell his obligation of study for money.

246, 2, Let a man first study Torah and then marry; for if he marry first, he will not be able to study Torah once the millstones are around his neck. But if it get to be impossible for him to study without a wife because his imagination and his desire overmaster him, then let him marry first.

246, 3. Until when must one study? Until the day of one's death, as it is said, "Lest these words depart from thy heart all the days of thy life" (Deut. 4:9). So long as one is not busying himself with the Torah, he is forgetting it,