Which Mitzvot Take Precedence?: Difference between revisions
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===Putting Oneself First for Mitzvot=== | ===Putting Oneself First for Mitzvot=== | ||
# A person can not give up his own mitzvah to enable someone else's mitzvah. One needs to take care of their own mitzvot first.<ref>Igrot Moshe EH 4:26:4 and OC 5:32:4 based on Kiddushin 29b and Bava Metsia 62a. The Rabbis opinion in Kiddushin 29b, which is codified as the halacha, is that it is more important to learn Torah oneself over affording one's children the opportunity to learn Torah if it is only possible for one of them to learn. If it is true about oneself and one's child that one comes first certainly a person takes precedence over other people. Rabbi Akiva in Bava Metsia 62a holds that it is necessary to save oneself over saving someone else if there's only resources for one to survive. Rav Moshe applies these principles to mitzvot and says that it is obvious that if one has the opportunity to do a mitzvah one should not and may not sacrifice it so that someone else can fulfill it. He quotes a Chatom Sofer who seems to imply otherwise and disagrees.</ref> | # A person can not give up his own mitzvah to enable someone else's mitzvah. One needs to take care of their own mitzvot first.<ref>Igrot Moshe EH 4:26:4 and OC 5:32:4 based on Kiddushin 29b and Bava Metsia 62a. The Rabbis opinion in Kiddushin 29b, which is codified as the halacha, is that it is more important to learn Torah oneself over affording one's children the opportunity to learn Torah if it is only possible for one of them to learn. If it is true about oneself and one's child that one comes first certainly a person takes precedence over other people. Rabbi Akiva in Bava Metsia 62a holds that it is necessary to save oneself over saving someone else if there's only resources for one to survive. Rav Moshe applies these principles to mitzvot and says that it is obvious that if one has the opportunity to do a mitzvah one should not and may not sacrifice it so that someone else can fulfill it. He quotes a Chatom Sofer who seems to imply otherwise and disagrees.</ref> | ||
# If a person is presented with two mitzvot opportunities one which is a great mitzvah and one which is a lesser mitzvah, he should take the greater mitzvah for himself and let his friend do the lesser mitzvah.<ref>Moed Katan 9a</ref> | # If a person is presented with two mitzvot opportunities one which is a great mitzvah and one which is a lesser mitzvah, he should take the greater mitzvah for himself and let his friend do the lesser mitzvah.<ref>Rashi Moed Katan 9a s.v. mitzvah writes that if presented with two mitzvot one should pick the bigger one and leave the smaller one for his friend. See Haarot Rav Elyashiv 9a s.v. lo is bothered that this is obvious and the nuance in the gemara is regarding the other case where no one else will do the smaller mitzvah.</ref> | ||
# One should sacrifice a tenth of one's time available to learn towards helping teach others who need more help learning Torah.<ref>Igrot Moshe EH 4:26:4 and OC 5:32:4 based on Ervin 54b and Bava Metsia 33a. In Eruvin, Rabbi Perida spent a lot of time teach a student 400 times and when he didn't understand it another 400 times. Bava Metsia 33a establishes that although a person may take care of their own monetary needs before others, he shouldn't be too exacting upon taking care of himself otherwise he'll abolish the principle of chesed. Rav Moshe says that although there is no fixed amount of time to allot to teaching Torah to those who need it, it is reasonable that a tenth of one's time is appropriate just like we find in the area of giving maaser of one's money to tzedaka. He adds that whereas for tzedaka it is recommended to give up to twenty percent of one's money, there is no such recommendation with regards to teaching since one needs to learn himself. | # One should sacrifice a tenth of one's time available to learn towards helping teach others who need more help learning Torah.<ref>Igrot Moshe EH 4:26:4 and OC 5:32:4 based on Ervin 54b and Bava Metsia 33a. In Eruvin, Rabbi Perida spent a lot of time teach a student 400 times and when he didn't understand it another 400 times. Bava Metsia 33a establishes that although a person may take care of their own monetary needs before others, he shouldn't be too exacting upon taking care of himself otherwise he'll abolish the principle of chesed. Rav Moshe says that although there is no fixed amount of time to allot to teaching Torah to those who need it, it is reasonable that a tenth of one's time is appropriate just like we find in the area of giving maaser of one's money to tzedaka. He adds that whereas for tzedaka it is recommended to give up to twenty percent of one's money, there is no such recommendation with regards to teaching since one needs to learn himself. | ||
* Yad Melachim p. 95 agrees with Rav Moshe and discusses the proof from Eruvin. Yalkut Gavriel Tzedaka 249:26 p. 39 quotes Rav Chaim Kanievsky (Derech Sicha p. 509) that one doesn't have to chase this opportunity but if approached one should give a tenth of one's time to teach in line with Rav Moshe. Yisrael Arevim 16:22 quotes that Rav Shimon Schkop (Intro to Shaarei Yosher) gave one tenth of his time to teaching. Shaarei Mechila v. 2 p. 326 quotes that he heard directly from Rav Ovadia Yosef that he agreed with Rav Moshe and also commented that Rav Ovadia personally followed that ruling. Teshuvot Vehanhagot 5:281 agrees with Rav Moshe and quotes it from Rav Shneider as well.</ref> If a person does so with pure intent he does not have to worry about losing out.<ref>Igrot Moshe EH 4:26:4 and OC 5:32:4. Tzror Hamor (Devarim 6:5) notes that the first paragraph of Shema is in singular and the second is in plural. He explains that the first one is about a person who serves Hashem purely out of love for Him and so he is able to serve Hashem together in unity with all Jews. However, the second paragraph address a person who serves Hashem for reward and to avoid punishment; as such, he is in constant competition with other Jews for mitzvot and therefore the Torah's language is written in plural.</ref> | * Yad Melachim p. 95 agrees with Rav Moshe and discusses the proof from Eruvin. Yalkut Gavriel Tzedaka 249:26 p. 39 quotes Rav Chaim Kanievsky (Derech Sicha p. 509) that one doesn't have to chase this opportunity but if approached one should give a tenth of one's time to teach in line with Rav Moshe. Yisrael Arevim 16:22 quotes that Rav Shimon Schkop (Intro to Shaarei Yosher) gave one tenth of his time to teaching. Shaarei Mechila v. 2 p. 326 quotes that he heard directly from Rav Ovadia Yosef that he agreed with Rav Moshe and also commented that Rav Ovadia personally followed that ruling. Teshuvot Vehanhagot 5:281 agrees with Rav Moshe and quotes it from Rav Shneider as well.</ref> If a person does so with pure intent he does not have to worry about losing out.<ref>Igrot Moshe EH 4:26:4 and OC 5:32:4. Tzror Hamor (Devarim 6:5) notes that the first paragraph of Shema is in singular and the second is in plural. He explains that the first one is about a person who serves Hashem purely out of love for Him and so he is able to serve Hashem together in unity with all Jews. However, the second paragraph address a person who serves Hashem for reward and to avoid punishment; as such, he is in constant competition with other Jews for mitzvot and therefore the Torah's language is written in plural.</ref> | ||
===Grabbing the Mitzvah or Honoring Another?=== | ===Grabbing the Mitzvah or Honoring Another?=== | ||
# If there is only one object for a mitzvah available and everyone is bidding for it, is it appropriate to honor the rabbi with the mitzvah or should one endeavor to take it for oneself? Some say that it is best to take it oneself since if one needs to take care of oneself first when it comes to one's finances certainly one should do so for mitzvot as well.<ref>Shaarei Knesset Hagedola (on Bet Yosef 660:1) writes that his father once one | # If there is only one object for a mitzvah available and everyone is bidding for it, is it appropriate to honor the rabbi with the mitzvah or should one endeavor to take it for oneself? Some say that it is best to take it oneself since if one needs to take care of oneself first when it comes to one's finances certainly one should do so for mitzvot as well.<ref>Shaarei Knesset Hagedola (on Bet Yosef 660:1) writes that his father once one | ||
