Apropos of last week’s discussion of educating children, the question of defining bittul Torah becomes relevant as well. Those who remember time in yeshiva may have absorbed the notion of bittul Torah as spending time in any activity other than Torah study or absolute necessities. There is certainly a strong strand of thought that would support such a view. Rambam (in a statement that gives me chills every time I read it) speaks of not losing even one night— he was of the opinion that nighttime is the best time for Torah study, since there are fewer distractions—to other matters than Torah study.

In our reality, however, the severity of that formulation leads to an unwanted result: those who do not spend all their time studying Torah, or at the very least all their non-essentially-occupied time studying Torah begin to think that the standards of bittul Torah do not apply to them. Perhaps a review of some halakhot related to the topic of bittul Torah will help rectify this picture.

In terms of children (who led us into this discussion in the first place), the standards of bittul Torah are in fact relatively strict. For example, there is a discussion as to whether children are to be encouraged/told to sit shiva . It is clear that we have such children tear keriah, but the reason given for that is mipnei ogmat nefesh, to increase the feelings of sorrow the assemblage has over the passing of the deceased. In addition to that, some opinions suggest that having the child tear keriah is a form of hinukh, so that if the child could understand what was going on, it would be appropriate. That being said, it might also be appropriate to have the child sit shiva as well, in order to teach them that area of Jewish life. While some authorities accept that view, one of the reasons given for rejecting it is that it involves too much bittul Torah. From that perspective, a child’s job growing up is supposed to be studying Torah, amassing Torah knowledge that will lay the firm foundations for a continuing involvement in Torah throughout the person’s life.

Along the same lines of strictness about children’s bittul Torah, R. Ovadya Yosef once prohibited a teachers’ union from going out on strike for better working conditions. While he sympathized with their needs, and was in favor of their finding other means of negotiating with the administration of their schools, he thought the bittul Torah involved in such a strike (and its aftermath) was intolerable.

When it comes to adults, there are a few mitsvot that explicitly allow for bittul Torah: reading the Megillah, helping celebrate a wedding, and accompanying the dead are some examples. In the latter case, however, there are some limitations on that permission. If, for example, there are enough people accompanying the deceased to his/her final resting place, someone who would otherwise be studying Torah is not allowed to join in. For a deceased Torah scholar, that rule would be suspended, unless there are 600,000 mourners; and if the Torah scholar had taught others as well, the number would be limitless.

Although it is not a specific mitsvah, Rema asserts that hazzan may sing on Shabbat morning (even in pesukei de-zimra, the introductory psalms we recite to put us in the right frame of mind for saying Shema and the Amidah) as much as he wants (as long as the latest time for recitation of Shema and the Amidah won’t be passed, and as long as the services will finish before midday, so that people can make kiddush and eat before they will halakhically be considered to have fasted on Shabbat), without worrying that spending so much time in prayer will be considered a bittul Torah, a loss of time for Torah study. Whatever bittul Torah is, then, it is not a value that overrides all others.

Rabbenu Yonah, both in Sha`arei Teshuvah and his commentary on Avot, raises the issue of bittul Torah in several contexts, all of which put the concept in a context that is perhaps more applicable than the strict standard mentioned at the beginning of this sheet. He blames involvement with business, joining a moshav letsim (a social circle that is completely disinterested in Torah and mitsvot), excessive conversation with one’s wife, and other human activities for drawing a person away from Torah. While that seems severe, note that he does not denigrate those activities per se (although some of them may lead to other problems, such as speaking lashon hara). It is their effect on a person’s readiness to pick up a sefer of some sort when a free moment presents itself that is endangered by these involvements.

Daf Yomi