[Avodah] priorities in Talmud Torah

[Samuel Svarc]

>From: YBLAU at nyc.rr.com
>Subject: [Avodah] priorities in Talmud Torah
>
>The following was told to me in the name of Rab Baruch Ber ZTL.  There
>is proof from the Talmud Kiddushin 29B that there is a priority given
>in talmud torah based on ability which does not exist in other
>mitzvos.  If a choice is to be made (Rashi there are insufficient funds
>to pay for both) a father should learn himself and not his child.
>However if the child is more capable then the father the child should
>be chosen .  Rashi adds that the father should work to sustain the
>son.  There are ramifications for the ongoing discussion about talmud
>torah.

I want to comment on this, using this post as an example, but it's not
limited to this post. Many people seem to have misunderstood what the
original discussion was about. The question was: Everything being equal,
what is preferred, learning full time or training for Zaka? Clearly, it's
learning that is preferred (sources were previously given).

Many points that were raised, including the above one, that priority is
given on who to teach when resources are limited, are true. They are
deserving of discussion on their own. But they are not relevant to the
original discussion, where the implicit assumption is that we are only
looking at the person now, what should *he* choose. Let's stick to the
topic, or start new threads, but let's not keep on confusing threads.

KT,
MSS