Moed Katan 9B

כאן במצוה שאי אפשר לעשותה על ידי אחרים.

There, in the other verse, it is referring to a mitzva that cannot be done by others, and therefore, one must not consider its relative importance, but rather do it immediately.

הדר יתבי וקא מבעי להו, כתיב: ״יקרה היא מפנינים וכל חפציך לא ישוו בה״⁠ — הא חפצי שמים ישוו בה, וכתיב: ״כל חפצים לא ישוו בה״⁠ — דאפילו חפצי שמים לא ישוו בה!

The two scholars, R' Yonatan ben Asmai and R' Yehuda, son of converts, once again sat and raised the following dilemma: In one place it is written in praise of the Torah: “She is more precious than rubies; and all of your desires are not to be compared to her” (Proverbs 3:15). One can infer from here that all human desires cannot be compared to the Torah, but the desires of Heaven, i.e., mitzvot, can indeed be compared to her. And elsewhere it is written: “For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it” (Proverbs 8:11), which indicates that even mitzvot cannot be compared to the Torah.

כאן במצוה שאפשר לעשותה על ידי אחרים, כאן במצוה שאי אפשר לעשותה על ידי אחרים.

They resolved this contradiction by stating that here, in the second verse, it is discussing a mitzva that can be done by others. In that case, even mitzvot cannot be compared to the Torah, and accordingly, one who is engaged in Torah study should not interrupt his studies in order to perform another mitzva. However, there, in the first verse, it is discussing a mitzva that cannot be done by others. In that case Torah study is not more important than the mitzva, and one should interrupt his studies in order to perform the mitzva.

אמרו ליה: מאי בעית הכא? אמר להו, דאמר לי אבא: זיל גבייהו דליברכוך. אמרו ליה: יהא רעוא דתזרע ולא תחצד, תעייל ולא תיפוק, תיפוק ולא תעייל, ליחרוב ביתך וליתוב אושפיזך, לבלבל פתורך, ולא תחזי שתא חדתא.

When R' Yonatan ben Asmai and R' Yehuda, son of converts, noticed R' Shimon ben Yoḥai’s son, they said to him: What do you want here? He said to them: Father told me: Go to them so that they should bless you. They said to him as follows: May it be God’s will that you should sow and not reap, that you should bring in and not take out, that you should take out and not bring in, that your house should be destroyed and your lodging place should be inhabited, that your table should become confused, and that you should not see a new year.