Jewish12345 made some very good points. We’ve never had a mesora of every man sitting and learnng full time, and for very good and practical reasons. In prewar Europe there were no social service networks ; if you didn’t work you didn’t eat. Only those who showed the ability to be talmedai chachomim, poskim and rabbinical leaders were supported by the community; everyone else had to work . The current phenomena didnt begin until 50 years ago , when the baby boomer generation, having been allowed to go to all the professional schools, had become wealthy enough to support theirs sons in yeshiva .
Menu