Maaser Time

Igros Moshe (EH IV 26.4 page 55) Concerning the view of Chasam Sofer regarding Rabbi Akiva state that Loving others as yourself is a major principle of the Torah and mitzvos. He says it is specifically said in regard to this world. But we know that Rabbi Akiva also said that your life takes precedence of that of others?. This is truly astounding. It is clear that in regard to Torah learning, his learning takes precedent as is stated in Kiddushin (29b) that it takes priority in relation to one’s son so surely the Torah learning of others. That is how the Rambam rules. There is also a hierarchy for tzedaka. It is obvious that in Torah learning he takes precedent over others much more than in regards to tzedaka. Furthermore regarding tzedaka this is specifically that bread for him comes before that of others. But if he lacks meat while the other lacks bread, he sacrifices his meat so the other can have bread. Similarly he takes precedent if they are poor and he also is to receive meat. However in regards to Torah, it is clear that a person who knows one gemora or even many, his learning of other gemoras still takes priority over other’s learning even that which he already mastered. Also in regards to matters of this world there is no prohibition but rather it is optional if there is no actual danger to life. In contrast regarding Torah, it is prohibited to give the learning of others priority over himself. However I ruled that every Torah scholar, even though he needs it for himself and is a great scholar to devote some time to teach others, even if this if this distracts from his own Torah study. I brought a proof from the gemora about Rav Preida. who taught a student who had great difficukty understanding and required repeating each lesson 400 times. Obviously during that time it would have been more productive for his own learning. He received great reward for this in that he lived 400 years, and also his generation brought the merit to the future world. It would seem that doing this is prohibited since his learning is more important. It is reasonable to explain that this was the giving of a tenth of his time as maaser. Similarly he could add until a fifth. The amount requires additional thought. Regarding mitzvos, if he and the others need to fulfil a mitzva and it is possible for only one person to do the mitzva, obviously if he gives it to the others than he will end up transgressing the mitzva. Consequently I don’t understand the Chasam Sofer and this requires further thought. There is also the problem of two people dying of thirst and one has a bottle of water. Rabbi Akiva does not say that it needs to be given to save the other person or even shared and they both die. We see that Rabbi Akiva does not mean that they are all equal but rather he takes precedent to save himself.