Our Gemara on Amud Beis discusses the halachic principle of kavuah—an item that is fixed and stationary, thus not subject to nullification. Most Torah prohibitions allow the majority to annul the minority, and the prohibited substance or item is discounted. Yet there are certain objects or situations where the solidity and fixedness interfere with nullification. This is known as kol kavuah k’mechtsa al mechtsa—any item that is fixed is not nullified, even amongst a majority, and is treated rather as an unknown 50-50 possibility.

The classic example is the “Ten Stores” case, as described in Pesachim (9b):

“With regard to nine stores in a city, all of which sell kosher meat from a slaughtered animal, and one other store that sells meat from unslaughtered animal carcasses, and a person took meat from one of them and he does not know from which one he took the meat, in this case of uncertainty, the meat is prohibited…”

“…And in the case of meat found outside, follow the majority…”

Kavua is not based on numeric or statistical factors because the odds remain relatively the same in both examples, where the minority obviously has less odds of occurring than the majority. Kavua is based on a Torah rule stemming from the relative solidity and inflexibility of the object, which makes it less subject to being nullified. (It is sometimes hard to appreciate the mentality of the ancients because their perspective on numbers and physics is different than ours. For example, they had hardly developed the science of mathematical statistics, and they may not have considered situations as having equal probability. We will discuss this in greater depth later on Psychology of the Daf Zevachim 77.)

The power of kavuah is so strong that it also works for leniency as well: where ordinarily a majority of a prohibited item should nullify the minority, it is still treated as a doubt and unknown (see Kesuvos 15a), and does not incur punishment by the Jewish court.

There is a play on words by Pele Yoetz (317), which uses the phrase of kavuah and the idea that when something is fixed and stable, it is not looked at statistically by its numbers but rather becomes 50-50. There is a directive to establish fixed times (kvias ittim) for Torah study. The play on words is: If you establish a fixed time for Torah study, even though numerically it is an insignificant amount of time from your day, it will be considered as if you spent half your day: kol kavuah k’mechtsa al mechtsa. Something that is fixed overcomes the statistical numbers and is treated with equal probability. If one makes Torah study a fixed time in his day, it has the same significance as if it were half the day.

In general, the concept of kviyyas ittim—setting aside a time every day for Torah study—is often misunderstood. As Mishna Berura (155:4–5) explains, it cannot mean reserving only a specific time of day to study Torah. To the contrary, there is an obligation to spend as much time as possible every day studying Torah, and we are only exempt from this obligation for functional and necessary activities. Any spare moment ought to be spent in the study of Torah. The Gemara Yerushalmi (Berachos end of chapter 9) decries setting aside only specific times for Torah study and considers it a desecration. That is, to see Torah as merely a discipline or regimen and routine amongst other things is to devalue it. Torah is life and should never be designated for only specific moments.

Rather, the idea of kviyyas ittim is that there is an obligation to set a specific time a day that one studies Torah which is to never be disrupted. This time is preferably right after prayers, and is to be treated as inviolate, even if there are great pressures or potential losses. In the words of the Yerushalmi Sotah (end of chapter 9): even if there are potential business opportunities, such as someone announcing a trade or wares for exchange, the person should say, “Whatever business is going to come to me will come regardless. I will not interrupt my set time for Torah study.”

From a spiritual point of view, this directive stands on its own merit. But psychologically as well, it is powerful that a person should have a specific time that is honored for development, growth, productivity, and spiritual engagement that transcends every other temporal priority. This is something sacred and grounding and bigger than any individual need or concern and takes precedence over everything else. When a person submits to a higher will and higher principle, it creates nobility and dignity. Even though the daily financial or material concerns require effort and involvement, there is something greater than that and something beyond that. The person still believes that if he stays rooted in his intellectual and moral values as expressed through the consistent study of Torah, the opportunities will come in the right way at the right time.