8:34 AM
Gil Student
R. Yitzchak Breitowitz (here and here):
Why, in many Orthodox circles, has full-time kollel learning become such an accepted norm? Two reasons are often given for this:
1. Full-time learning is seen by some as a necessary strategy for keeping one's head religiously above water in a predominantly non-religious environment. Even though the common Eastern-European Orthodox Jew was not studying in kollel, he was surrounded with religious life. He would pray three times a day and often say Tehillim or attend an Ein Yaakov or Chayei Adam shiur. Home life followed tradition, Torah and mitzvot. There was a not uncommon custom for a baalabus who worked all week to stay awake all Shabbat night and learn. There were cobblers who knew Shas. The modern Jewish environment is so much more secular. Many basic Jewish values and mores are just ignored by many. Kollel might be a necessity even for many Jews, even if they are not necessarily the most gifted in order to retain a strong religious life.
2. The post-Holocaust era is a Jewish state of emergency. Many of the gedolim of Europe were killed in the Holocaust and there is a need for an emergency revival of Torah...
Many deliberate over whether to enter the professional world (usually preceded by university study) or to pursue full-time Torah study in a kollel framework. I draw on my experience in the yeshiva, the academic and the professional worlds to present some of the positive and negative sides of a professional life.
Before beginning, two introductions are in order:
A. Whichever track one pursues, a period of intensive Torah study at the beginning of married life is essential.
B. Before I went to university I was priviledged to discuss the issue for about three hours with the Gaon Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky z"l. Near the end of our discussion he said to me, "I'm not going to tell you to go or not to go, but whatever a Jew does should contribute to his avodat Hashem (service of G-d)."
Positive Aspects of Professionalism:
1. The mishna lists among the obligations of a father towards his son, "teaching him a trade"...
2. There is a kiddush Hashem, a sanctification of the Divine Name, when someone is involved in the professional world and lives by Torah and mitzvot.
3. Living in the professional world enables us to translate Torah values into practical life...
4. The life experience that comes with the professional world facilitates a real understanding of Torah. Part of understanding Torah is understanding the reality it relates to.
5. A solid understanding of reality ensures the accuracy of halakhic decision making...
6. For some, the absence of productive work, even when involved in Torah study, can lead to depression and aimlessness...
7. The poverty that sometimes goes along with a kollel life can hurt a person...
8. Economic self sufficiency -- relying on none other than G-d Himself -- is considered a positive Jewish virtue...
9. A scientific understanding of nature, aquired through serious study of the sciences, can bring one to love and fear of Hashem. Appreciating how wonderful the Divine creation is can contribute to one's religious sensibilities.
10. Lastly, a professional work week can certainly lead to a greater appreciation of Shabbat.
Negative Aspects of Professionalism:
1. In the higher education that is a pre-requisite for entering many fields, one is exposed to heretical approaches and opinions, as well as books that are classified as "sifrei minim"...
2. The social setting of the professional and academic world often leads to accomodation and compromise in halakha -- especially Shabbat, Kashrut, and modesty...
3. A number of ethical dilemmas present themselves in professional situations, often making it difficult to both work and keep halakha...
4. Living in the secular world can create certain destructive attitudes. Our priorities can end up radically different than those of the Torah...
5. The professional and academic world often cultivates negative character traits -- aggressiveness, pushiness, arrogance, and hypercriticism -- that can destroy our personalities.
6. Obsession with career issues -- preparing for it and involvement in it -- can sap our time and energy on endeavors that are only a means to an end.
