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Osek b'mitzvah patur min hamitzvah

In Judaism, the concept of ' (, rough lt. "engaged in commandment exempt from the commandment", or rather, in a more understandable translation, "one who is engaged in a commandment is exempt from another commandment [at the same time]") sometimes exempts one from performing a religious obligation while one is engrossed in another religious obligation.

Sources

The Talmud cites Deuteronomy,

"...בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ..."
"...when you sit in your house and when you travel on <u>your</u> way..."

and infers from the reference to your way that commandments are not obligatory when one is already engaged in heavenly pursuits.

Extensions of the Rule

The Talmud makes use of a similar concept in reference to those who are not yet actively engaged in a mitzvah (commandment) but also to those who are busy preparing to perform a mitzvah, with the comment that שלוחי מצוה (shluchei mitzvah, lit. "messengers of a precept") are similarly exempt from performing other religious obligations, such as sitting in a sukkah.

The Pnei Yehoshua comments that such exemptions are valid only for positive commandments, stating that one thoroughly engaged in a positive precept (such as burying the dead or learning Torah) would certainly not enable one to violate negative precepts (such as performing adultery or consuming non-kosher food).

References