[Avodah] talmud Torah

[Daniel Israel]

On Thu, 20 Aug 2009 04:13:02 -0600 Eli Turkel <eliturkel at gmail.com> 
wrote:
><<I consider it diminished in the sense that it's not the ikkar 
qiyum
>hamitzvah of talmud Torah for the same reasons that it doesn't 
influence
>pesaq>>
>
>Micha brings up a different point that is not completely clear.
>What defines Talmud Torah
>examples
>
>learning dikduk?

AFAIR, Rambam at least says this one explicitly (I don't remember 
where).

As far as your other examples, one can be m'kayim the mitzvah of 
talmud Torah with many different things, but that doesn't mean they 
are all equal ikkar.  (I heard b'shem one RY that for talmidim at a 
certain level, Gemara w/ Rashi is bitul Torah.)  Can't the same be 
true of your examples?

I guess the nafka mina would be a case where the halacha depends on 
something being TT.  I would think all of these would be assur on 
9Av (but one could argue because of general inappropriateness 
rather than TT).  Which of these would work for osek b'mitzva patur 
min hamitzva?

--
Daniel M. Israel
dmi1 at cornell.edu