Shoftim 18:09 · unit 1
TT #170 · Parashas Shoftim · Fourth Aliyah · Passuk 18:09
The Complete Passuk
כִּ֤י אַתָּה֙ בָּ֣א אֶל־הָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ נֹתֵ֣ן לָ֑ךְ לֹֽא־תִלְמַ֣ד לַעֲשׂ֔וֹת כְּתוֹעֲבֹ֖ת הַגּוֹיִ֥ם הָהֵֽם׃
When you come to the land that the Eternal your God is giving you, you shall not learn to do according to the abominations of those nations.
Chabad / Judaica Press
Source Citation
Torah Temimah points to Sifrei Devarim 170.
TT lemma: לֹא תִלְמַד לַעֲשׂוֹת.
Sefaria — Sifrei Devarim 170
Core Text of Chazal
Core Text
לֹא תִלְמַד לַעֲשׂוֹת – אֲבָל אַתָּה לָמֵד לְהָבִין וּלְהוֹרוֹת.
English: ‘You shall not learn to do’ – but you may learn in order to understand and to teach.
On the daf / in context: The prohibition is against adopting the practices, not against studying them for the purpose of knowing and rejecting them.
Type of Learning
Derash limiting the prohibition (Sifrei) — the language ‘to do’ restricts the ban to practical imitation.
What Is Learned
One may study the practices of the nations in order to understand and to rule against them, but one may not learn them in order to perform them.