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The following is from pages 274 - 275 of Rav Schwab on Chumash.<br><br>
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>Learning for the sake of
learning, just to occupy one's mind with the <br>
intricacies of the Torah, even if the practical application of the law
is<br>
already known, is limited to men.<br><br>
A woman who learns Torah does not become greater in <i>yiras
Shamayim<br>
</i>because of it. True, she may become very learned in Torah, but this
is not <br>
the object of <i>talmud Torah. </i>A woman may become a great
philosopher<br>
or scientist, but Torah is not philosophy or science. Torah is the
way<br>
<i>Hakadosh Baruch Hu </i>communicates with us.<br><br>
Only because <i>talmud Torah </i>is a mitzvah, a positive commandment for
man,<br>
can it be a means to connect to Hashem and thereby increase his<br>
<i>yiras Shamayim. </i>Because a woman has no specific mitzvah of
<i>talmud<br>
Torah, </i>she cannot utilize it as a means to increase her many ways
of<br>
connection to Hashem. If a man is a great <i>talmid chacham,
</i>having<br>
learned the entire Talmud, and has not become a greater <i>yerei
Shamayim<br>
</i>this learning has not achieved its purpose. If a woman were to learn
<i>and </i>know<br>
Gemara just as well as a man, it still would not make her one iota<br>
better than she is. It would have no influence on her relationship with
<i>Hakadosh<br>
Baruch Hu. Shehasani kirtzono - </i>He <i>has made me according to his
will,<br>
</i>means that a woman does not need <i>talmud Torah </i>to come close
to<br>
<i>Hakadosh Baruch Hu. </i>A woman can even have prophecy - the
closest<br>
possible relationship to <i>Hakadosh Baruch </i>Hu - without learning
Torah.<br><br>
<i>Rav Schwab on Prayer, </i>page 33<br><br>
Women are also obligated to say <i>Birkas ha Torah</i><b>. </b>While
<i>patur </i>(exempt) from<br>
<i>talmud Torah </i>purely for the sake of learning, women are,
nevertheless.<br>
obligated to learn the <i>halachos </i>of the mitzvos so they can
properly fulfill<br>
them. With the exception of the few time-bound mitzvos, women have<br>
the same obligation as men to know and keep the vast majority of the<br>
mitzvos of the Torah. It is therefore incumbent upon women to learn<br>
the details of these mitzvos in order to observe them properly. How<br>
can women keep Shabbos or Yorn Tov properly without knowing the<br>
applicable <i>halachos?<br><br>
</i>How can a woman conduct a business if she is not familiar with
the<br>
<i>dinim </i>(laws) of <i>ribbis </i>(interest), <i>ona'ah
</i>(misrepresentation or price fraud),<br>
or <i>gezel (outright theft). T</i>he difference is only in the
goal of the learning.<br>
For a man, in addition to the need to know the practical <i>halachos
</i>in<br>
order to apply them, it is also a mitzvah to occupy himself with
<i>talmud Torah<br>
</i>as a form of <i>avodas Hashem, </i>serving Hashem. This is so even if
<br>
there is no immediate need for this knowledge in practice, either because
he <br>
already knows the <i>dinim, </i>or because his immediate
circumstances <br>
do not require the application of what he is learning.
However, for <i>a <br>
</i>woman, the purpose of the learning is to gain the knowledge in order
to <br>
put it into practice.<br><br>
<i>Rav Schwab on Prayer, </i> page 78<br><br>
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