Halacha Corner: What is Better to Study - Gemara or Halacha?
Those who have four or more hours to study each day should dedicate three of them to studying halacha, and the rest to studying Gemara and early commentators as they are able
Question: What is appropriate and proper to study during the time set aside for Torah study?
Answer: It is stated in Tractate Kiddushin (page 30): "Rabbi Yehoshua ben Chananya said, a person should always divide his study time into three parts, one-third for Scripture (Chumash), one-third for Mishnah, and one-third for Talmud (Gemara)." And Maran the Beit Yosef (Siman 246) wrote in the name of Rabbeinu HaRamah, that our Sages did not say to divide time into three parts for Scripture, Mishnah, and Talmud, except for the early generations, whose hearts were as open as the entrance to a hall, and they could manage to learn Mishnah and Talmud in two-thirds of their time. But for us, it is enough to study Scripture (Chumash) in our childhood, and hopefully the rest of our days will suffice for Mishnah and Talmud.
The explanation is that because in recent generations people have become weaker, and cannot accomplish in a long time what the earlier generations could learn in a short time, therefore if we spend a third of our time on Scripture study, we will not be able to reach the study of practical halacha. Therefore, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef wrote that the correct approach is to invest most of the time in books dealing with practical halacha. However, at the beginning of one's journey, it is appropriate to divide time also for the study of Scripture, Mishnah, and Gemara, in order to know the way of halachic ruling, to learn one thing from another. But when one grows in Torah, one should direct all efforts toward studying Talmud and the legal authorities, and occasionally read Scripture and review Mishnah, so as not to forget any of the laws of the Torah.Rabbi Ovadia Yosef further wrote that laypeople who do not have time to study more than two or three hours each day should study only practical halacha from the Shulchan Aruch and its commentaries by which we live, as this is the root and essence of study in our holy Torah, to know what Israel should do (meaning to know how a Jew should conduct himself), and they do not fulfill the obligation of the mitzvah of Torah study at all by studying Mishnah and Gemara, since one does not learn halacha from Talmud, and as they said (in Niddah 73), "Whoever studies halachot every day is guaranteed to be a member of the World to Come," refers to definitive halachot.
But those who study only the "Daf Yomi" (daily page) of our Talmud do not fulfill the mitzvah of Torah study, for Rabbeinu Maharai ben Migash (the Rambam's teacher) wrote that in our days there is no one who can rule halacha directly from the Talmud, but only according to the rulings of the Geonim. And those who imagine in their minds to rule because of their strong insight in Talmud (those who think they can rule due to their great wisdom directly from the Talmud) should be prevented from doing so, as there is no one in our time who is fit for this, and this is also the opinion of Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv.
However, one who has four hours or more to study each day should dedicate three of them to studying halacha, and the rest to studying Gemara and early commentators as they are able. And it should be added that if due to difficulty in learning or similar reasons, one is not capable of investing most of their study time in practical halacha, they should ask a Torah scholar how to divide their time and which books they should study.
Rulings of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef courtesy of the "Daily Halacha" website
