Parshas Shelach
By Rabbi Dovid Zauderer
According to Jewish tradition, each and every one of us will be given a six-question “Final Exam” after we die, to establish our ultimate level of reward (and punishment) in the Hereafter.
The source for this teaching is a passage in the Talmud in Shabbos 31a, where the Sages expounded on the following verse in Isaiah 33:6: “The faith of your times will be the strength of your salvations, wisdom and knowledge; fear of G-d that is [man’s] treasures”.
One of the six questions on the exam is: Did you set aside fixed times for Talmud Torah (Torah study)?
Just in case you were wondering what “setting fixed times for Torah study” actually entails and how does one go about accomplish it, there happens to be an entire chapter in the Shulchan Aruch (“The Code of Jewish Law”) O.C. 155:1 (together with the running commentary of the Chafetz Chaim in his classic work Mishnah Berurah) that discusses all the details in full.
The following is a brief synopsis of the words of the Shulchan Aruch and the commentary of the Mishnah Berurah on the subject: Let’s read on …
“After he finishes Shacharis (the Morning Prayer Service), and before he goes to work, a person should set aside some time to learn Torah, preferably in the same place every day. [Although he can learn Torah any time of day, ideally it should be done first thing in the morning, for once the day starts he might forget or become too busy to take out time to study.]
“Each person is obligated to learn each day Tanach (Bible), Mishnah, Talmud, and Halachah (Jewish law). However, if he only has time to learn one thing, then it should be Halachah, which is most practical for him to know what to do in his daily life.
“Ideally, the mitzvah of Talmud Torah requires that one study Torah all day long, or for as long as one can. What then did our Sages mean by “setting fixed times for Torah study”? Their intention was that even if one can’t learn Torah all day long - he should at the very least set a fixed time that he never misses – no matter what – even if by so doing he loses an opportunity to make a lot of money. [It is part of our emunah, or faith, to believe that if G-d wants him to have that money, He can grant it to him without having to miss his fixed time of Torah study.]
“If, for some reason, he must miss his daily Torah study, he should treat it like a ‘debt’ that he ‘owes’ and he should make it up that night.
“One should also set aside a fixed time to study Torah in the evening, preferably between the Minchah and Ma’ariv Prayer Services.
[What about those of us that don’t have the time to learn during the week? For this reason, Shabbos and Yomim Tovim (Jewish holidays) were given to us for the study of Torah. Therefore workers and laymen, who are not engaged in Torah study during the week, are more obligated to engage in the study of Torah on the holy Shabbos, each man according to his understanding and ability.]
“One can learn one mishnah or halachah in the morning and another at night and technically have fulfilled the mitzvah of Talmud Torah, but he will not become a Talmid Chacham (Torah scholar) this way.
“The Mishnah Berurah writes that even though one fulfills his mitzvah of Talmud Torah if he studies alone on his own, the mitzvah is substantially enhanced by studying as much as he can together with a group, because G-d’s Name is glorified even more when Jews come together to study His Torah.
“One who is so busy that he cannot even find the time to learn a chapter of mishnah or a single halachah, can fulfill his obligation to study Torah by reciting the Shema in the morning at Shacharis and in the evening at Ma’ariv.
“One fulfills his mitzvah of Torah study even if he doesn’t understand what he’s reading. However, this only applies to Tanach (the “Written Torah”). Mishnah and Talmud (the “Oral Torah”), on the other hand, have to be understood for one to fulfill his mitzvah obligation by studying them.
“Even if one doesn’t understand what’s being studied, he should still show up to learn – for the act of sitting there to learn is itself considered a meritorious act and will be rewarded in kind. Furthermore, we have a tradition that any Torah that was studied in one’s lifetime – even if he didn’t understand it at all – he will merit to study it and understand it for all eternity.”“
http://www.torchweb.org/torah_detail.php?id=668