GEN822 He who acts but does not go, attains reward for action.  Pirkei Avot V:17 …  [this] can denote the type who “acts” in specific areas of Judaism, but will not “go” the whole way, to accept it fully; he will not join the organized observant community. Such are Jewish intellectuals who have written in recent years on Jewish themes. Such are certain “big givers” whose interest in Judaism is limited to charity. Further, the text may mean: If someone does “act,” observing mitzvoth, raising money for a Torah school, and so on, yet does not “go” to the House of Study, he will most certainly be rewarded for “doing,” but the lack of Torah study in his life remains his loss.  … R. El’azar interpreted: “Why was Abraham our father punished to have his children forced into slavery by Egypt for 201 years? – because he forced Torah scholars into [military] service, as it is stated: he led forth חניכיו, his disciples [those whom he educated] born in his house …” [this verse. Talmud, Nedarim 32a] He needed them to give battle and save his captured nephew Lot. But however meritorious his action, he temporarily disrupted the sacred study of Torah. The loss remained.  SINAI3 172-3