A Celebration Of Mediocrity? I Believe Not

I was at the Meadowlands watching the siyum hashas ['virtually' because a close friend sent it to me - the only time I was there in person was about thirty years ago when a family friend who had a close business relationship with one of the 'Gdoilim asher ba-aretz', mamesh one of the ענקים, a true 'Giant' - Phil Simms, took me to a game] and the following occurred to me....

There is a raging debate among Jews as to what is the IDEAL WAY to serve Hashem. Should one spend ALL of his time learning and involved in purely spiritual pursuits or is it better to combine a profession together with his learning [not learning at all is not an option..]. Some people say that of course one should try to learn full time if he is able. What could be holier??! שבתי בבית השם כל ימי חיי!! If he can't, then there is a "bi-dieved' option to work and set aside time for Torah study. Others argue that the normal, healthy way is to work and set aside time for learning as the mishna in Pirkei Avos says - טוב תורה עם דרך ארץ, it is good to both work and learn.

This argument is not new. It is in fact almost 2000 years old! Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai claimed that ideally one should only learn if possible while Rebbe Yishmael maintained that one should work as well. To our great fortune their argument was recorded in the gemara brachos 35b. So who won?? Like whom do we rule? Usually the gemara doesn't provide the final ruling but here the holy Abaye tells us the way to go. Many people tried to just sit and learn but they were not successful. Many others worked as well and they were successful. Wonder of wonders. For the masses full time kollel forever just doesn't 'work' [pun intended:-)]. Only a chosen few, the creme de la creme, the cream of the crop, those fortunate individuals who have the financial, physical, emotional and spiritual capacity, are supposed to be immersed in full time learning. The masses however are expected to work as well when not learning. Usually Rava argues with Abaye. They were old friends who even attended nursery school together. In this instance the gemara relates that Rava agreed with Abaye and told his talmidim that during 'busy season' in the fields he expects them not to be in the beis medrash but in the fields so that the rest of the time they can be focused on their learning.

Our Torah is a practical Torah. Mass poverty is not practical. It causes a myriad of problems. Also, most people are just not cut out for intense full time learning. Historically, Jews have followed the path of Rebbe Yishmael and most have worked. OF COURSE we need to have a special crack unit of Torah scholars who are ensconced in the beis medrash and the community should see it as a great zchus to generously support them.

What is daf yomi? Daf Yomi is an approximately 45 minute time period when working men [or according to an article in an Israeli newspaper about women who made a siyyum hashas - some women as well] learn a page of gemara. What are they doing the other 23 hours and 15 minutes a day?? The VAST MAJORITY work. Yeshivas and kollelim don't have daf-yomi and if they do it is a very peripheral activity. In Yeshivos the primary focus is in depth gemara with lots of commentary. So to me 93 thousand people [including many roshei yeshiva and poskei halacha] came out to Giants stadium to say "Balebatim are NOT second-class Jews. We salute them." None of the speakers [that I heard] intimated in any way that people should feel guilty for not learning full time. What is more significant is that in Eretz Yisrael there were also siyummei hashas and despite the fact that many people here look down on the working man, nevertheless there were similar mass celebrations of being a baal habayis who is kovea itim.

Of course this doesn't mean that people who are completely immersed in Torah are doing anything wrong. On the contrary, the Rambam in a famous passage at the end of hilchos shmitta vi-yovel calls such people 'Kodesh Kodashim' and before his brother drowned at sea, he too was supported [then he went to Einstein Medical School and the rest is history]. Some people are חשקה נפשם בתורה and they just can't get enough and those people should be taken care of so that they can bring down all the Divine bounty with their learning lishma. So Klal Yisrael needs both and we are all part of Hashem's army.

Which living Jew would you say is responsible for more Torah than any other Jew in this generation? Hint - he doesn't have a beard or wear a hat.

Jay Schottenstein.

He is responsible for THOUSANDS of dappei gemara learned DAILY.

I am SURE that we benefit from a lot more now that he works than we would if he would sit and learn all day.

So I bless us all that we should be connected to Torah in every way possible, both by supporting Torah, learning Torah, and [when appropriate] being married to Torah scholars [or that we should be married to women who are married to Torah scholars].

אמן!!:-)