In
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...
, the concept of ' ( he, עוסק במצוה פטור מן המצוה, rough lt. "engaged in commandment exempt from the commandment", or rather, in a more understandable translation, "one who is engaged in a commandment is exempt from another commandment
t the same time
T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is der ...
) sometimes exempts one from performing a religious obligation while one is engrossed in another religious obligation.
Sources
The ''
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
'' cites
Deuteronomy,
:"...בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ..."
:"''...when you sit in your house and when you travel on
your way...''"
and infers from the reference to ''your'' way that commandments are not obligatory when one is already engaged in heavenly pursuits.
Extensions of the Rule
The ''Talmud'' makes use of a similar concept in reference to those who are not yet actively engaged in a ''
mitzvah'' (commandment) but also to those who are busy preparing to perform a ''mitzvah'',
[''Bavli'' '' Sukkah'' 25a] with the comment that שלוחי מצוה (''shluchei mitzvah'', lit. "messengers of a precept") are similarly exempt from performing other religious obligations, such as sitting in a ''
sukkah''.
The ''
Pnei Yehoshua'' comments that such exemptions are valid only for positive commandments, stating that one thoroughly engaged in a positive precept (such as burying the dead or learning ''
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...
'') would certainly not enable one to violate negative precepts (such as performing adultery or consuming non-kosher food).
References
{{Halakha
Jewish law and rituals
Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish law