I received an offer to learn Chavrusa with a Lubavitcher Balabos and he will pay me for it. Is there a problem of receiving money for teaching Torah. Especially since I may be teaching him things that he doesn’t know. If it is muter, is it recommended for Hidur Mitzvah? (It will probably cause me to go learn a lot more if he pays me rather then doing it for free).

 

One may receive money to teach Torah, even when teaching adults if it is needed in order to live properly. However, it is forbidden to accept money if one has a fixed Parnossa that allows them to live properly, even if it would cause one to study less.

 

Followup Question:

What about if he is paying me for the learning together as a Chavrusa and not as a teacher?

 

Answer:

If you are a Yoshev Ohel (Bachur or Avrech) it is allowed to take money to study B’Chavrusa, since you have no stable and fixed Parnasah. Additionally, it can be considered as a “Heskem Yisochor U’Zvulun” and it’s “Derech Kavod”.

 

טעמים ומקורות:

ראה שו״ע יו״ד רמו, ה. שם כא ברמ״א. וראה בנו״כ שם. ולמעשה – ראה שו״ע אדה״ז הלכות ת״ת א, ב. שם ד, טו-טז.

 

 

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