This posting was reprinted from an email that is transcribed from questions that were posed to Harav Miller by the audience at the Thursday night lectures.
To listen to the audio of this Q & A please dial: 201-676-3210
QUESTION:
Why does the Mishna (Avos 3-7) state, ha'mhalech baderech v'shoneh umafsik mi,mishnoso... it says, if a man is walking on the road and he stops learning and he says, "how beautiful is this tree", he is considered guilty of a sin?
ANSWER:
If a man stops learning Gemara – let's say he's learning Gemara and he stops for a while because he wants to learn Chovas Halvavos, will you say he's mischayev benafsho, he's guilty of a crime? Chovas Halvavos is also Torah. If a man stops learning Bava Kama and he decides for a little while every day to learn Zevachim, is it a crime? Zevachim is also a sugya in Torah.
But what does it mean if he's mafsik mishnoso and says, ma noeh ilan zeh? It's not talking about studying the tree for the sake of seeing the niflo'os haborei, the wonders of creation. No. He's remarking that it's something beautiful, something aesthetic; it's a pleasure to look at that tree.
Now if you're in middle of Shmonei Esrei, you're standing before Hakadosh Baruch Hu, you don't interrupt to talk diverei chol. When you're studying Torah, don't interrupt; you have to have respect for Torah. That's what the mishna is talking about.
But if somebody interrupts because he wants now to take himself to the study of the briah, then there's no question that it's permissible and sometimes virtuous.
Important Numbers
