{"id":9172,"date":"2000-12-01T00:06:47","date_gmt":"2000-11-30T22:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=9172"},"modified":"2019-05-14T12:35:20","modified_gmt":"2019-05-14T09:35:20","slug":"12-01-06","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/12-01-06\/","title":{"rendered":"06. Time for Learning and Eating"},"content":{"rendered":"
When it comes to the purpose of a holiday, there are two verses which seem to contradict each other. One verse tells us that the holiday is for God<\/strong>: \u201cYou shall hold a joyous gathering for the Lord your God (atzeret laShem Elokekha<\/em>)\u201d (Devarim 16:8), while the other says that it is for you<\/strong>: \u201cOn the eighth day you shall hold a joyous gathering for yourselves (atzeret tihyeh lakhem<\/em>)\u201d (Bamidbar 29:35). The Gemara presents two ways to reconcile the verses. According to R. Yehoshua, the Torah is telling us that we should split up the holiday so \u201chalf is for God and half is for you\u201d \u2013 meaning half the day is spent on food and drink, and half is spent learning Torah in the beit midrash<\/em>. In R. Eliezer\u2019s opinion, a person may choose \u2013 either the whole day is \u201cfor God\u201d spent in the beit midrash<\/em>, or the whole day is \u201cfor you\u201d spent eating (Pesa\u1e25im<\/em> 68b; Beitza<\/em> 15b). Even if one chooses to follow R. Eliezer and spend all day learning Torah, he must still eat something so that he will not suffer from hunger, while if one chooses to spend all day eating, he must still pray and learn some Torah in the morning and at night, and also have words of Torah at the meal (Rabbeinu Peretz; Ra\u2019ah; Shelah<\/em>). Furthermore, if one chooses to spend all day eating, this choice must be made for the sake of heaven, in order to enjoy the sanctity of the holiday and to provide enjoyment for poor and lonely people (Pri Tzadik<\/em>, \u1e24ag Ha-Shavu\u2019ot<\/em> \u00a75; see section 11 below).<\/p>\n In practice, the halakha<\/em> follows R. Yehoshua, so we should split up the day and spend half learning in the beit midrash<\/em> and half eating and drinking (SA 529:1). Some maintain that one must be very careful that the \u201chalf for God\u201d is indeed at least half. Or Ha-\u1e25ayim<\/em> declares that if one takes more than half the day for himself, that extra part is considered stolen property (Rishon Le-Tziyon<\/em>, Beitza<\/em> 15b). Others maintain that it is not necessary to calculate precisely; one should just learn Torah approximately half the day (Pri Megadim<\/em>). Usually people do not calculate the hours; unfortunately, the result is that we are very derelict about the time we dedicate to Torah. In order to revitalize this mitzva, we need to start calculating the hours and becoming accustomed to dedicating half the time to God. It would seem that the seven hours that a person normally sleeps can be left out of the calculation. Since a day of Yom Tov with tosefet<\/em> lasts approximately 25 hours, there are then 18 hours remaining. Half of this time \u2013 nine hours \u2013 must be dedicated to God. While most of it needs to be dedicated to Torah study (\u201chalf for the beit midrash<\/em>\u201d in the words of Pesa\u1e25im<\/em> 68b), prayer can also count toward this half. However, this is on condition that the prayer service is not too drawn out with melodies or cantorial renditions; if it is, that time cannot be considered God\u2019s half (Yam Shel Shlomo<\/em>; MA). It seems reasonable that out of the nine hours for God, three may be used for prayer, but the remaining six should be devoted to Torah study.<\/p>\n Women too have a mitzva to study Torah on Yom Tov, and indeed, women customarily attended the derashot <\/em>given on Shabbat and Yom Tov. Although women are not obligated to dedicate half of the day to God, one who does so is worthy of blessing.[2]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n