Who Is Obligated to Learn Torah? A Practical Guide to the Mitzvah of Torah Study

Who Is Obligated in the Mitzvah of Torah Study?

Every single Jew is obligated to learn Torah. Torah study is essential for all Jews, as without it, one lacks the necessary knowledge to fulfill the mitzvot properly and avoid transgressing the prohibitions.

While each person must learn according to his or her ability, no one is exempt, regardless of whether he is rich or poor, healthy or sick, young or old — even if he is elderly and weak.

Even someone so poor that he lives off charity or must go door to door for his basic needs, and even someone who has a wife and children to support, is still obligated to set aside time to learn Torah every day and every night.

Does One Fulfill the Mitzvah Without Understanding What They Read?

The essence of the mitzvah of Torah study is learning in order to fulfill what one learns. Therefore, if one simply reads words without comprehension, there is no mitzvah.

However, if a person understands only partially, he still fulfills the mitzvah, although of course in any area of confusion (and certainly in matters of practical halachah—Jewish law) he should seek clarification.

What Should One Learn Each Day—and Why?

Even someone who is preoccupied with making a livelihood must still try to find time to study halachah every day, including Shabbat and the festivals. Even someone who is extremely busy with chesed (acts of kindness) for the community is not exempt from learning Torah.

Ideally, everyone should also try to review at least two halachot each day, to be included in the category of those about whom the Sages of the Talmud said:

“Whoever studies halachot every day is assured a portion in the World to Come.”

What If Someone Doesn’t Know How to Learn Torah?

These days, virtually everyone has access to some form of Torah learning. The internet is full of Torah classes for people of all backgrounds and all levels of knowledge.

Nonetheless, if someone finds it extremely difficult to make the time, for whatever reason, he or she should at the very least donate to Torah institutions such as day schools or yeshivahs, or support a Torah scholar so that he can learn with peace of mind.

Are Women Obligated in the Mitzvah of Torah Study?

Women are exempt from the mitzvah of regular, daily Torah study. This is clear from what the Talmud states in its interpretation of the Torah verse: You shall teach them to your sons: “not your daughters” (Kiddushin 29b).

However, women are absolutely obligated to learn all the halachot that apply to them, such as:

• The laws of niddah and tevilah (the laws of family purity)
• Shabbat laws
• Brachot (blessings, such as those recited before and after eating)
• Laws of preparing kosher food (e.g., separating meat and dairy)

Without knowing these laws, they cannot fulfill them. For this reason, women recite the brachot over Torah study each day, just as men do. These brachot are recited at the start of the Shacharit (morning) prayers.

And, just like men, women who learn Torah, even in areas not directly relevant to them, receive reward, although not on the same level as a man who is obligated in Torah study.

This is because together with a mitzvah and obligation to do something, comes an opposing force (a yetzer hara) not to do it. Since women are not obligated to the same degree, they have less internal resistance to overcome and therefore do not need to exert themselves to learn to the same degree that men do.

That said, women have a special merit when they encourage their husbands and children to learn Torah; the Talmud states this clearly, and adds (Berachot 17a) that, “The promise that Hashem gave to women is greater than that given to men.”

Which Mitzvah Causes Hashem to Cancel Harsh Decrees?

There is a positive mitzvah to teach one’s children Torah; we are also obligated to teach our grandchildren, as the Torah states:

“And you shall make them known to your children and your children’s children.”

For the most part, this mitzvah is fulfilled today by paying a teacher (or paying school tuition) to teach one’s children. The teacher is then considered the shaliach (emissary) of the parent; on a spiritual level, the teacher is the student’s parent.

Teaching Torah, especially to those who would otherwise not have the benefit of a Torah education, is a tremendous mitzvah, so much so that the Torah teaches us that in the merit of this teaching, Hashem cancels harsh decrees on the Jewish People.

Teaching Children to Learn and to Respect Learning

A father is obligated to begin teaching and guiding his children in Torah study from a very young age. As soon as a child speaks his first words, his father should teach him the Torah verses:

• “Torah tzivah lanu Moshe, morashah kehillat Yaakov—Moses commanded us the Torah, the inheritance of the community of Jacob (i.e., the Jewish People).”
• “Shema Yisrael, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad”

After that, he should be taught according to his ability to learn.

Children should also be accustomed from a young age to:

• Recite brachot over food
• Recite the Asher Yatzar blessing after going to the bathroom
• Respond Amen to brachot they hear
• Recite the Shema prayer before going to sleep

Children should not be taken to a synagogue during prayers until they are old enough to show respect for the prayers and to refrain from causing a disturbance.

Adults must model respectful behavior in a synagogue and study hall (beit midrash), refraining from any small talk or unnecessary conversation aside from prayer and Torah study.

Learning Torah is what keeps us anchored as Jews. It unites us as one People, no matter what part of the world we are in. The Torah we learn today is the same Torah learned by Jews thousands of years ago, and it is the only guarantee we have of our future as a Jewish nation.