Daily Tanya

Therefore, my beloved ones, my brethren and friends: do not commit this great evil—of turning a gathering of worshippers before or after prayers into a “company of scoffers,”

and “give glory unto the L-rd your G-d before it grows dark,”57 i.e., between Minchah and Maariv every weekday,58

by studying in groups of [at least] ten the innermost (i.e., the mystical) dimension of the Torah, i.e., the Aggadah contained in Ein Yaakov,

for most of the secrets of the Torah are concealed in it (i.e., in the Aggadah);

moreover, it atones for man’s sins,

as explained in the writings of Rabbi Yitzchak Luria, of blessed memory.59

As to the revealed (nonmystical) passages in [the Aggadah],

these are the ways of G-d in which a man ought to walk,

and [they enable him] to take counsel in his soul in heavenly matters (such as Torah and mitzvot) and in worldly matters, as is known to all the wise of heart.

In addition, between Minchah and Maariv, [people] should study a little—out of the Shulchan Aruch, in [the section called] Orach Chaim—the laws that are essential for every person to know.

Of this, our Sages, of blessed memory, said: “Whoever studies Torah laws (halachot) every day [is assured of life in the World to Come].”60

This refers to clear and definitive rulings that are of practical relevance,

as explained in the commentary of Rashi ad loc.61—that the term halachot refers to final rulings, without the surrounding debates and argumentation.