1997 December 7, R, “Ladino”, in soc.culture.jewish[1] (Usenet):
Less posting, more Tehillim, more davening, more learning. By learning, I mean learning Torah, not learning Santayana. And, not learning foreign languages. Unless you have some Torah purpose in mind. Do you perhaps attend a Yeshiva where the Rosh Yeshivah says his shiurim in Ladino, and you had to learn the language so that you could understand him? If this is so, then I have misjudged you (on this one particular item). […] Otherwise, stop you bitul zman and bitul Torah, and get back to the basics of what the Gedolim require of you.
2002 February 23, Henry Goodman, “High Court Accepts Reform, Conservative Conversions”, in soc.culture.jewish.moderated[2] (Usenet):
Do you really think being on the internet is bittul Torah? Quite a lot of the activity on this newsgroup is learning or teaching Torah. makes your conscience easier if you think that!
2009, Hayyim ben Isaac Volozhiner, Nefesh HaChaim:
If he has searched and found that he has done nothing wrong with the limb that hurts, he should attribute his pain to bittul Torah. For the sin is so grave that it is not punished measure for measure, since bittul Torah affects the entire body , all limbs and all organs
2019, Abby Chava Stein, Becoming Eve, Seal Press, page 60:
Based on biblical verses and rabbinic teachings, a Hasidic Jew has an inherent obligation not to waste a single minute of the day. "Bittul Torah," a phrase used to describe anything that gets in the way of studying, is a concept Hasidic boys are lectured about from a young age.
