The Torah Commandment for Daily Torah Study
The Rambam (Hilchos Talmud Torah 1:8) says that every Jewish man has to set aside a time daily for Torah study, both during the day and at night. This is based upon the verse that states והגית בו יוממם ולילה, and you shall meditate upon it day and night. The Rambam in that chapter speaks at length about the importance of studying the Torah, and that the more one studies it, the better. The basic requirement though, is to study Torah for some period every day and every night. This is codified in the Shulchan Aruch (The Code of Jewish Law in Yoreh Dayah 246:1).
The Rama in his glosses (ibid) states that if need be, one can fulfill this requirement with the recital of Krias Shema in the morning and night. This is only to be relied on when there is no other option available.
The Ideal Method
The Shulchan Aruch (Orech Chaim 155:1) states that ideally one should have a time set aside for Torah study immediately following the morning prayers. The Mishnah Berurah gives two reasons for this. The first is that it’s ideal to go straight from one spiritual activity to another. The other is that the best way for a person to make sure that he will study Torah every day is to do it right away. Otherwise, “life happens”. You might think that you will be able to study Torah at, to pick a time, 3:00 PM but something may come up at that time. It is not an absolute obligation to have a study session at that time, but there is an obligation to have a set time for Torah study.
There are different explanations given as to why one should need a set time, and can’t just make sure that he studies Torah sometime during the day. It seems that the basic explanation is that it shows that a person considers something important when they make a set time for it rather than just getting to it when they get around to it. Of course there will be times when one will not be able to study Torah at their regular set time, and this is not the place to go into the details of that. The important thing is to set a time when one will try to learn Torah on a daily basis.
