Hi, it seems like from Rashi on this Daf that teaching Torah is more important that mitzvos, but miztvos are more than Torah
How does that fit with the CHaza''l that Kol Chafatecha Lo Yishvu Bo that torah is even more "chashuv" that mitzvos
Or with the halacha that you should only stop learning to do a mitzva with can't be done by someone else. It would seem like from this Gemara that you should stop learning for any mitzva unless you are teaching Torah?
Thank you
aaron kaplan, ramat beit shemesh
Great question! The idea that Torah learning is greater than Mitzvos comes from the Sugya at the end of the first Perek of Kidushin, which says that it was agreed by all of the Chachamim that Talmud is better than Ma'aseh, since the one who learns Torah will come to Ma'aseh; that is, he will know the details of how to perform the Mitzvos better, or he will understand how and when the Mitzvos should be performed. In the end, the whole purpose of studying the Torah is to observe the Mitzvos properly, and keeping the Mitzvos properly requires intensive study. Consequently, when one has a choice between learning Torah and fulfilling a Mitzvah that is not obligatory on him or that someone else can fulfill, it is better to continue studying Torah. Also, in learning Torah, apart from the value of instruction how to do the Mitzvos, there is a Mitzvah in the very act of studying Torah which is the Mitzvah of Talmud Torah itself.
What we find here in the Gemara is a eulogy for a Niftar. Obviously, it is a great praise to say that he kept the Mitzvos, much more than to say that he learned about them, since, as we said, the whole purpose of the study is to keep the Mitzvos correctly, and if it is said of a person that he kept the Mitzvos as he should, it means that he also learned all their details properly. But there is much greater praise in having taught Torah.
In conclusion, when discussing what to do with one's free time, surely studying is better, since studying carefully takes time, and only if a person studies properly will he be able to fulfill the goals, which are the Mitzvos, properly. But when you come to praise a person, it is certain that if he did not keep the Torah during his lifetime, his study was worth nothing.
In addition, if it is said of a person that he has fulfilled everything that is written in the Torah, it actually means that he has also studied the entire Torah properly, so you are actually saying he also learned Torah (this additional point is actually mentioning by Tosfos and might not be part of Rashi's opinion).
Still a higher rank than one who keeps the entire Torah is a person who teaches others and enables many others to keep the Torah.
Best Regards,
Aharon Steiner