Health – Please don’t call Hashem arrogant, that’s inappropriate and your comment doesn’t justify saying that. While the world may stand on Torah, it does not stand on phony Torah learners and the Yeshiva’s have many, many more than just a few of those. A guy who’s learning as “best as possible” and that best doesn’t amount to much is wasting the talent that he was given by Hashem, not contributing to the world properly by using his weaknesses instead of strengths and defrauding the people who work hard to support him, in other words, he’s a deadbeat. A yeshiva that doesn’t encourage that type of learner to move on towards a career, while learning on the side and giving tzedaka is complicit in genaiva from financial supporters. The backlash from SOME tsionim may be anti-Torah, but for most the issue is that the system of expecting financial support for learning is being abused. Another reason is the total lack of derech eretz towards women and any Jew that isn’t willing to conform to the most stringent practices and latest chumra declared by the ultra chareidi community. It just smacks of ignorance, not piety and that’s not the way to earn respect and admiration. Somebody who wants the perks of living a holy lifestyle needs to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. The world stands on how we apply the Torah that we learn, not purely the intellectual process of analyzing it. The tragedy of Rabbi Akiva’s students, the biggest learners of that time, demonstrates that beautifully, they didn’t die because the neighbor dressed immodestly or went to work, they died because of lack of derech eretz among each other. There are very, very respected gedolim in Israel, who deal with the dire poverty that is the direct result of everybody feeling pressured to be in kollel, who absolutely advocate for the majority of chareidim to go to the army and to get a higher education. I work in that world and know firsthand of strategies that have been discussed and even implemented to help transition these men into becoming productive citizens. The kollel system was historically a much smaller system and never meant for the staggering amount of people that are currently playing the kollel game. It’s disingenuous to pretend that it isn’t a huge strain on the finances of the community and Israeli gov’t and it’s extremely ungrateful to ignore the contribution of somebody who gave up his life or is living with life changing injuries so that Israel could exist. The way of this world is that Hashem creates miracles, but we are responsible to do our hishtadlus. How can you possibly discount the contribution of somebody who took a bullet for the rest of us? Btw, many religious Israeli’s, who are shomer shabbos and learn do go to the army. Do you feel a total lack of gratitude towards them too?
Menu