Birchas HaTorah: Sine Qua Non?
B’ hashgacha pratis (with special Divine Providence), you encounter someone who is not yet shomer Torah u’mitzvos (Torah and mitzvah observant). You feel that this Jewish neshamah (soul) would appreciate a Torah thought, but you are in a quandary: “May I teach this person Torah if they have not recited Birchas HaTorah (the blessing recited each morning as a prerequisite to fulfilling the mitzvah of learning Torah)?”
Contemporary poskim address this issue. Some posit that since the listener does not have kavanah (intention) to perform the mitzvah of limud haTorah (learning Torah)—though he may be happy to gain new and interesting knowledge—he has no chiyuv (obligation) to recite Birchas HaTorah. Many other halachic authorities disagree, stating that regardless of whether or not a Jew intends to learn Torah, they fulfill a mitzvah by doing so—and this would require the proper blessing beforehand.
Another approach focuses on the actual mitzvah being performed at this time, by stating simply that fulfilling the mitzvah of limud haTorah trumps the obligation of the brachah. The teacher intuits that by insisting on a blessing he may lose his audience—postponing the mitzvah of limud haTorah indefinitely.
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