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ןנברמ אברוצ הא ורות מומ ת תו ו · מ רועיש · 149

Which Parts of Torah

Should One Learn?

As we know, the Torah contains numerous different realms, such as Chumash, Mishna Gemara, and
halacha. Does the halacha present us with any guidelines as to what to learn and how to do so? We will
begin with the Gemara in Kiddushin, which addresses this question in the following manner:

h Masechet Kiddushin 30a .ל ןישודיק תכסמ 8 .

The Sages said that a person should always divide his years into ,ארקמב שי ש – ויתונש םמא ש שי ם וע
three parts, as follows: A third for Tanach, a third for Mishna, עמוי ימ .מומ תב שי ש ,ונשמב שי ש
and a third for Talmud. The Gemara asks: Who knows the .ימוי – א ירצ ,א ?ייח ומ
length of his life, so that he can calculate how long a third will
be? The Gemara answers: No, it is necessary for one’s days, i.e.,
one should divide each day of his life in this manner.

Rishonim dispute how to understand the answer of the Gemara. According to Rashi, it means that one
should divide up the days of the week with regard to what one studies.

r Rashi, Kiddushin 30a .ל ןישודיק | י״שר 8 .

The days – The days of the week. .עובשו ימי – ימויל

Tosafot rejects Rashi’s explanation, as the Gemara’s question would not be answered: How does a
person know whether he will live for the entire week? Tosafot therefore suggests that the Gemara refers
to dividing up one’s learning time during one day. However, Rabbeinu Tam posits that a person may still
fulfill his obligation to study all three aspects by studying Gemara, which includes elements of all three.

r Tosafot, Kiddushin 30a .ל ןישודיק | תופסות 8 .
No, it is necessary for the days – Rashi explains that this means ימי“ :סרטנוקב שריפ – ימויל אכירצ ,אל
the days of the week, meaning [that one should study] Tanach ינשו ,ארקמ םימי ינש :רמו ,״תבשו
for two days, Mishna for two days, and Gemara for two days. ,אריונ א ו .ארמג םימי ינשו ,ונשמ םימי
But this is not logical, as if so, it should have still asked, “who עמי ימ“ ךרפימ יצמ וווו ית א ן םאמ
knows how long one will live?” But it seems to me to explain םויו םוי לכב ,שרפ י וארנו !?״ייח ומ
that one should divide [one’s time] into three each and םרמע בר רמסב ןקית ן ע .שלשי ומצע
every day. For this reason, Rav Amram Ga’on instituted in his
daily order [to do] what we do every day before Pesukei D’zimra םמוק םוי ב םיגוונ ונאש ומ ,ןואג
(the preliminary morning prayers before Shema and Shemoneh .ארמגו ונשמו ארקמ רמו ,ורמזמ יקוספ
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Esreh), to recite [a portion of] Tanach, Mishna, and Gemara.

12. Tosafot here refers to three passages found within the Korbanot section of Tefilla recited prior to Pesukei D’zimra known as Parshat
HaTamid, Eizehu Mekoman, and Rabbi Yishmael Omer. The first is the passage describing the mitzva of the daily offering in the
Beit HaMikdash, which was instituted to recite daily, the second consists of the fifth chapter of Mishna, Masechet Zevachim,

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