[By Rabbi Yair Hoffman]
This past Sunday, a number of halachic queries from the United States were presented to Rav Chaim Kanievsky Shlita in writing when Mr. Larry Gordon presented . One such question was whether Yeshiva boys should be learning TaNaCh as part of their regular routine, and if so, when should they be doing so?
The Shulchan Aruch (YD 246L4) writes that a person should divide his learning to include 1/3rd in Torah. Although the meforshim understand his words to refer to the 24 books of TaNaCh, the ruling only refers to the beginning of his learning. In other words when he begins to learn he should spend 1/3 of his time studying TaNaCh, but later on in life, he does not do so.
But what about in contemporary times?
Rav Shlomo Kluger in his Haelef lecha Shlomo (YD 259) writes that in contemporary times we should be learning TaNaCh and the Gemorah that seems to discourage it refers only to make it the central part of one’s study. He writes that an adult who studies Gemorah may study TaNach for an hour or two a day.
The Yesod v’Shoresh HaAvodah (6:2) writes that everyone should actually be fully fluent in TaNaCh and review it once per year. Indeed, he writes that the first year, he should actually complete the entire TaNach seven times to ensure his fluency in it! It should, of course, be stressed that TaNaCh should be studied with Rashi or the other commentaries that are faithful to Chazal.
In Sefer Chinuch Yisroel (Chapter 9), the Satmar Rav is quoted as saying that nowadays the Apikorsim have no connection whatsoever to TaNaCh, and therefore every Melamed in a Jewish school should be teaching TaNaCh on a daily basis.
So what does Rav Chaim hold?
The following question was posed in writing to Rav Kanievsky, and this was his response.
1. האם ראוי לבן-ישיבה ללמוד תנ”ך שיהיה בקי בתנ”ך. וא”כ מתי ילמד?
Should a yeshiva student learn tanach to know it? If so when should he be learning it? What schedule should he keep?
כן – בן ישיבה צריך ללמוד תנ”ך – וילמד בשבת.
Rav Chaim clearly writes that Yeshiva students should make it a regular part of their schedule and should do so on Shabbos.
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15 Responses
and NOW WHAT???
Will we be starting NACH SHABBOS CLUBS, before and after morning davening or mincha? With a Rebbe? or without???
You Need Tanach to appreciate the imprtance of Eretz Yisrael
What is the chiddush? Given that Rav Kanievsky has held that is assur for kollel yungerleit to study secular subjects, what else would have have them learning?? Why would someone insult the Rav by asking the obvious…i.e. if yeshivas should teach TNACh.
“You Need Tanach to appreciate the imprtance of Eretz Yisrael”
You need it to understand pashut pshat in the gemara. How many times does the gemara quote a passuk and how obvious is the connection, and how often do people gloss over the quoted passuk wihout really knowing why it was brought down in the 1st place.
As long as they don’t drink Tropicana OJ while they are learning.
Many Gedolim held that Bochrum should not learn Tenaach.
The Teenagers will come to their own conclusions when they learn the hundreds of episodes recounted in Tenaach of our ancestors, and hardly any mention of them doing any Mitzvohs.
Nach is also part of Talmud Torah.
I hear that there is in fact an English sefer on Nach due out in the next two weeks which summarizes the perakim of Nach with meforshim, as well as divrei Torah. Called Journey through Nach.
I was speaking to one of the top masmidim in my yeshiva, who is considered seriously holding in shaas. I asked him to name me the neviim rishon in and he really couldn’t do it, he hadnt opened a navi in years and really doesn’t know it at all.
I’m sure he is not the only one.
We live in a twisted Jewish world where a boy would be considered “”modern”” if he wants to learn tanach.
It is devar hashem and we must encourage it for all those who had not finished it cover to cover (very few boys in yeshivas have done that)
When you learn Tanach you are really studying commentaries derived from the source materials of the Torah she baal peh (the gemara, midrashim, etc.). Once you are in an advanced yeshiva, you should be able to study the original sources rather than the summarized version presented in the commentaries. It’s not like Rashi or the Radak has any new incites, they learned the original sources and presented them in an easier to use format (all the more so for more recent commentaries).
So of course learning Tanach is easier (the commentaries are in Hebrew, and are written for Baal ha-battim), and is more fun. Perhaps the analogy is to prefering desert rather than vegetables. However some people aren’t able to studying gemara and the medrashim, so they’ll never get their veggies, but at least they can enjoy desert.
Why all the negative comments? Why can’t our reaction be “ok, we should learn nach and shabbos is a good time”? Why denegrate the other sheilos? Why bash yeshivish vs modern? Why bash the question. Can’t we take anything relaxed at face value?
Gedolim are human; humans are known to make mistakes, even Gedolim.
Every yeshiva bochur is different and no one rule should fit everyone. This is as silly as having one educational system for everyone even though everyone is different!
I find it impossible to fathom that anyone would have a hava amina that one should not learn the books Hashem gave to us directly. The infinite creater of all gives us 5 books in his own words, and 19 through his messengers and for some reason the ‘frum’ Jews decide to ignore them. Somehow they aren’t ‘yeshivish’ enough.
One of my favourite stories is of R’Dessler who was once sitting and learning Tanach, a brochur came up to him and challenged him, he replied wittily: ‘I’m learning G-d’s pirush on Gemara.’
I give a Navi Shiur as part of a Pirchei program every Shabbos. Before I started learning Navi with the boys, I consulted some prominent Roshei Yeshiva and Menahalim and they all thought it was a great idea. When R’ Belsky Shlit”a heard about it, He not only gave me a b’racha to be matzliach, but He also added “I don’t understand why Yeshivos don’t learn Nach”. Something to think about…
I am on a Nach Yomi program @5 Pesukim per day >>> 9&1/2 years to complete Nach.