G-d’s Love for Halakhah

The statement of the Talmud that G-d’s love for halakhah is paramount factors into the discussion among poskim what to prioritize in terms of charitable funding: the education of children (tinokot shel beit rabban) or the advanced study of mature scholars. One the one hand, the adult scholars are fully obligated in Torah study, and are doing so at an advanced level, and thus can put forward a claim for priority. (This position is emphatically taken by Resp. Mahari Assad [Yehudah Ya’aleh], Yoreh Deah 315.) Alternatively, the Torah study of children is crucial for a basic religious foundation and essential to the continuation of Judaism , and thus many authorities give that precedence. [See Resp. Maharshdam, Yoreh Deah 167. Tzedakah UMishpat (ch. 3 n. 77) considers this to be the majority view. See also Resp. Minchat Yitzchak, II, 39 and Resp. Ateret Moshe, 191.] R. Moshe Feinstein suggests that if those who are responsible for halachic guidance are unable to support themselves, they take precedence; otherwise, the children have priority. [In the journal Tzohar, vol. II, p. 32, and see Resp. Iggerot Moshe, Yoreh Deah, III, 94. See also the discussion of R. Elyakim Devorkes in that journal, pp. 98-101, and Resp. Shevet HaLevi, V, 144:2. Concerning the particular obligation one has to support institutions in which one has children enrolled, see Resp. Shraga HaMeir, IV, 64]