Study or Action?

Study or Action?

Two pillars of Jewish life are Torah study and good deeds. The great Talmudic sages, who analyzed and debated every detail of our law and tradition, were curious about the hierarchy of study and deed, which of the two is greater?

The Talmud relates:

Rabbi Tarfon and the Elders were reclining in the loft of the house of Nit’za in Lod, this question was asked of them: Is study greater or is action greater? Rabbi Tarfon answered and said: action is greater. Rabbi Akiva answered and said: study is greater. Everyone answered and said: study is greater, as study leads to action.[1]

The meaning of the conclusion, “study is greater, as study leads to action”, is not entirely clear. If the virtue of study is that it “leads to action”, then it seems that action is greater because it is the ultimate goal and purpose. If that is the case, why doesn't the Talmud simply say that action is greater? 

The ability to think, to learn, to grow intellectually, is the greatest gift man possesses. Most of the personality is egocentric and subjective. The person's heart tells him what feels right to him, his will tells him what he should want, his tastebuds tell him whether the food he is eating is enjoyable to him. The mind, by contrast, is the tool which allows the person to escape the ego’s gravitational pull. The mind allows the person to be objective, to see truths separate from his own limited perspective. The mind allows the person to understand and identify with people, cultures, opinions and experiences different from his own. The mind enables the person to be transported to another time and place, losing his grounded self and being completely immersed in new stories, experiences and ideas. In short, the mind is the ticket to freedom, it is the tool through which one can transcend the self.

This then is the deep insight of the Talmud. When faced with the question of which is greater study or action, the sages give the typical Talmudic answer: it depends. Wisdom that does not set one free from his own sense of self, wisdom that makes a person arrogant, wisdom which robs the person of the humble sense of mystery and wonder, is no virtue, in fact, in extreme cases it can be directed toward evil, and it is certainly not superior to good deeds.

By contrast, wisdom which leads one to see beyond the self, that allows one to understand the needs of others, wisdom that propels the person to do for the benefit of another, is wisdom that is superior, because it is the ultimate superiority of man, the ability to break free of one's own limited self.

When the Talmud says “study is greater, as study leads to action” it is telling us what type of study is great. Only study which leads to action, study which inspires the person to do for others, study which frees the person from focus on the self and enables him to grasp a perspective beyond his own, is the greatest state of being one can achieve.

This idea is reflected in the beginning of the book of Numbers. In the first portion of the book, after the description of the order in which the twelve tribes camped around the tabernacle in the desert, the Torah describes the responsibilities of the Levites. In the first portion of the book, the Torah lists only one of the three families of the Levites, the family of Kehot, while the other two Levite families are listed in the second portion of the book, the portion of Naso, which means “lift up” or “elevate”. 

The family of Kehot whose primary responsibility was to carry the ark which contained the tablets, and later the Torah, represent Torah study. Yet, they are not mentioned in the portion of Naso, which means “elevate”. That is because study alone does not elevate one to the greatest heights unless it leads to the contribution of the families of Gershon and Merari, the Levites whose responsibility it was to transport and assemble the walls and coverings of the tabernacle. Gershon and Merari transformed the uninhabitable desert into a tabernacle, a home of peace and tranquility. Their service, therefore, represents action and good deeds. Thus, they are listed in the portion of Naso, “elevate”, because they passed the test of true elevated wisdom. They embody the wisdom which leads to action on behalf of others.

To be truly elevated is to achieve great wisdom: wisdom which leads to action.[2]

^[1] Kidushin 40b. 

^[2] Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe, Likutey Sichos 33 Naso 1.