[Avodah] Who is a Talmid Chacham

[David Riceman]

I started following this discussion in the middle, and I don't know the 
context in which the original question was asked.  But I don't think 
anyone's mentioned RYS's hiluk between the aspect of Talmud Torah qua 
study and the aspect of Yedias haTorah.  Loosely speaking, someone who 
is engaged full time in the former is what the Rambam calls a "Talmid 
Hachamim", and someone who has accomplished the latter is what the 
Rambam calls a "Hacham" (see Rashi on Devarim 1:13 s.v. "Hachamim").

The author of the Tanya (in H. Talmud Torah) is extremely strict about 
the prohibition of forgetting divrei Torah one has learned, and that may 
be influencing RZS's stated opinion.  Nonetheless, someone who spends 
his life reviewing the same mishnah may be fulfilling one aspect of the 
mitzvah of TT, but he is not even attempting to fulfill the aspect of 
YhT, and so his study is qualitatively lacking.

David Riceman