Someone linked me this article written by a professor of Talmud in Bar Ilan. I will comment at the end:
Next week, Jerusalem will host the annual education conference of the Bnei Akiva yeshivot. The list of topics slated for discussion is impressive and current. Quite rightly, the organizers highlight the lessons of the war we have just endured and the challenges posed by the digital world and artificial intelligence (AI). Alongside these, time has been set aside both to take pride in the tangible achievements of the Religious Zionist educational system and to reflect on its future.
Personally, I was deeply disappointed by the program. I could not help but be struck by the sense that essential elements were missing from it. Now, it is true that my reaction may stem from the fact that I was raised overseas in a very different religious milieu, that informed by the presence and teachings of my revered rebbe, Rabbi Joseph Dov ha-Levi Soloveitchik, zekher tzaddiq li-verakha. As a result, it is possible that, even after many decades of living in Israel, I do not fully grasp the ethos of the community in which I reside.
Yet, perhaps that is precisely the reason that I can perceive lacunae in the conference program, and the Religious Zionist educational agenda. Perhaps, an outsider can offer the organizers and participants a few observations “outside the box.”
1) In Parashat Vayeshev (Genesis 37:16), Joseph encounters an anonymous man. When the latter asks him for what or whom is he looking, Joseph answers: “It is my brothers that I seek” (Et Ahai anokhi mevaqesh). Rabbi Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin (Pri Tzadik to Vayeshev) interpreted this verse as meaning: “With my brothers I seek Anokhi-that is, the One who revealed Himself as ‘Anokhi,’ - God.
The accursed war, and the massacre with which it began, have powerfully heightened our awareness of the presence of the Creator within our lives. On the one hand, they have intensified age-old and entirely legitimate questions regarding divine justice, of why the righteous suffer. At the same time, they have also generated a powerful thirst for the Holy One, blessed be He; a longing that sweeps through broad segments of the Jewish population.
This blessed development presents Religious Zionism with formidable educational and ethical challenges: both with respect to the emphases that should shape our own religious educational philosophy and institutions, and with regard to the role of students, graduates, and the entire religious-Zionist community in assisting the wider public in seeking their Creator. Religious Zionism has always prided itself-rightly-on serving as the bridge between the world of Torah and the broader world, more so than any other sector. And there is no bridge more vital than the one that leads all of us closer and more intimately to our Father in Heaven.
Accordingly, grappling with questions of faith, forging a heightened awareness of God’s presence in daily life, and making the Creator accessible to the tens of thousands of Jews who thirst for His voice must stand at the very top of our educational agenda. Its absence from the conference agenda reminds me the prophet’s cry: “Why did I come and there was no one there? I called, and there was no answer” (Isaiah 50:2).
2) Of all the claims raised in the context of the controversy surrounding the Haredi draft, none grated more harshly on our community than the assertion that drafting yeshiva students would destroy the world of Torah. This outrageous statement callously and maliciously negates the entire network of yeshivot, pre-military academies, and kollelim established by Religious Zionism, in all its branches. Of course, I do not expect anything else from the Haredi leadership and its mouthpieces. What is deeply distressing, even excruciating, is that this calumny has been accepted by many decent people within the broader Jewish public (especially on the political right), and-to my great disappointment and astonishment-even within Religious Zionism itself. The silence of our own rabbis, yeshiva heads, and public figures, except for a very few, in the face of such contempt for our students and scholars, rabbis and Rashe Yeshiva, is perceived by many as tacit acquiescence.
This is nothing short of humiliating. So, before engaging in sophisticated discussions of AI, perhaps we ought to ask whether we have not sinned against the Torah itself. Have we failed to instill passionate love for Torah study-including rigorous learning (Lomdus) and Halakhah-in ourselves and our children? Have we, in our enthusiasm for general studies, betrayed the emphasis on the centrality and supremacy of Torah, and neglected to honor and materially sustain those who devote their lives to it? Perhaps we have fallen into a bourgeois trap, leaving the Torah “to them,” to the Haredim?
My revered teacher, Rabbi Soloveitchik, of blessed memory, broke with the traditions of his forebears and family and aligned himself with Religious Zionism for two reasons. He was convinced that Divine Providence had decided in favor of establishing a Jewish home in the Land of Israel, especially in the aftermath of the Holocaust. He also believed-and repeatedly emphasized-that it is the dissemination and teaching of Torah alone that justifies the existence of Religious Zionism.
The Rav paid a heavy and painful personal price for his adherence to Religious Zionism. It pains me to imagine what he would say upon seeing the absence of Torah from the conference schedule.
3) The Rav frequently spoke of the need to study “Torah in its broadest sense.” By this he meant that alongside intensive engagement with Torah-Talmud and Rishonim, Halakhah, TaNaKh etc.-we are obligated to master the wisdoms of the world. Doing so serves several distinct purposes. It enables a deeper understanding of the Torah itself by harnessing external disciplines in its service. Conversely, general education is indispensable for defending Torah against “enlightened” criticism from without, and for teaching Torah in a cultural and linguistic currency that is accessible, intelligible and effective.
Our religious Zionist educational system has utterly failed in realizing this vital vision and in training thinkers, educators, and people of spirit who might advance it. What value is there in a discussion of AI if, in practice, we merely surrender to the attractions of the digital world, while lacking the tools to critically engage it?
A careful reading of the conference program reveals that several sessions remain only loosely defined. There is still time to restore God and Torah to their proper places on the agenda. Failure to do so betrays who we presumably aspire to be.
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As to point one: I have listened to countless shiurim from RZ Yeshivos on line and they talk about Hashem all the time. In those Yeshivos there is a heavy emphasis placed on the study of Emunah to the point that there is a new concept in these Yeshivos called ר"מ לאמונה.
I don't know if they talk about Hashem in elementary and high schools. I assume that they do b/c a] the teachers graduated Yeshivos where Hashem was at the center and b] so many of the graduates end up in Yeshivos or Mechinot Kdam Tzva-iot, the latter of which place a very heavy emphasis on limmud Emunah.
Point two: Before you criticize ANYONE and certainly a massive community of hundreds of thousands of pious Jews - understand them. There even are MANY non-Charedim who admit that drafting the Charedim would be the end of Charedi-ism. One of the foundations of being Charedi is placing high walls between them and those who don't share their beliefs. Going to the army would severely undermine that whole project and their level of religiosity and Torah scholarship [which the RZ world isn't even close to] would take a serious downturn. Being under the command and surrounded by secular and pseudo-secular Jews will do that... Some will completely leave the fold as has happened to countless RZ boys and girls in the army. Probably the main motivation for the establishment of the Mechinot was to prevent that and they are only partially successful. He talks about being aware of G-d - that is PRECISELY why Charedim don't go to the army. He might not like it but should respect it. People MUCH MUCH MUCH greater than him think that way. Maybe the RZ community should engage in less paternalistic, patronizing and condescending speech toward the Charedim and instead modestly learn from them and they would be much better off. The Charedim of course also have much to learn from the RZ world.
As to point three: In point two he writes: "Have we, in our enthusiasm for general studies, betrayed the emphasis on the centrality and supremacy of Torah". Doesn't that contradict his claim in point that this the appreciation for secular studies is lacking. And the reality is that RZ adherents are doctors, lawyers, scientist and everything else. The problem is places like where he taught which is on so many levels a terrible place for anyone who believes in Hashem, Torah Mi-Sinai and observance of Halacha as I know first hand. Just the notion of a coed university is a חורבן of קדושה. The RZ world should do better than that.
As to Rav Soloveitchik - just about every Charedi boy is learning the Torah of his grandfather and other family members [and often RYBS himself] from a very young age throughout life. In the RZ world - if the person is still religious and is still learning [often not the case] it is daf yomi at best, but certainly not Torah study as promoted by RYBS. So again - instead of criticizing, try instead to acknowledge and emulate their good points.
In conclusion - He is write about talking more about Hashem. We shoud ALWAYS be mindful of Hashem שויתי השם לנגדי תמיד and talk about Him האמנתי כי אדבר - I believe in Hashem because I always talk about Him.
