829. The Basis of Learning the Revealed

This is already something that is acceptable by anyone in our generation, that learning the revealed is a must, as well as being proficient in Mishnah, and Gemara, Rishonim [First] and Achronim [Last], and that one should dedicate one’s entire life to it and give his heart and soul, and starve his family, to the extent that our sages said, “as black as a raven,” for the Torah exists only in one who becomes as cruel to his sons and daughters as a craw, and the Torah exists only in one who puts himself to death over it.

We should understand this racket. If you say, “to learn the rules and not fail in it,” one should learn only the verdicts. As for the rest, it is enough if only one person in the city learns, so he will be a rabbi. Why is there an obligation to the point that they said, “For it is your life and the length of your days”? That is, does one who did not learn all six books of the Mishnah, not taste, “For it is your life”? But we see that each and every one says, “For they are our lives and the length of our days.”