Rabbi
Yitzchak Breitowitz
(adaptation of a lecture at the summer 1999 Darche
Noam Yarchei Kallah on "Torah im Derech Eretz")
Part I - Full-time learning vs. combining
learning with a profession
General introduction
We will attempt here to explore a diversity
of views on the subject of Torah and professionalism.
When Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky zt”l discussed this issue
he emphasized that it is not an area subject to
clear cut halakhic analysis or precise quantification.
There are so many personal subjective factors involved
– different people have different talents, strengths,
weaknesses. Certainly it is illegitimate to say
that everyone must go to college or pursue a professional
career, but it also cannot be responsibly said that
no one can. Which direction one takes is an individual
decision that demands serious thought and guidance,
both from people and from Jewish sources.
In
my own life I have experienced both the positive
and negative aspects of the professional world.
There are a number of strong and compelling reasons
not to enter college and the professions, but there
are also a number of positive reasons to get involved
in the world outside yeshiva. No position can in
any way detract from the value of Torah study. Whatever
path we take we must pray for much Divine assistance
and guidance.
The
Brisker Rov: Full time Torah study vs. learning
a trade
There is a seeming contradiction in the gemara
at the end of Kidushin in the context of a discussion
of parents’ obligations towards their children.
Rabbi
Meir says, “A person should always make sure
to teach his son a ‘clean and easy’ occupation.”
Rabbi Nehorai says, “I put aside all the occupations
in the world and I only teach my son Torah.”
This
would simply be a standard presentation of a talmudic
dispute if not for the statement of the gemara
in Eiruvin 13 saying that Rabbi Meir and Rabbi
Nehorai are the same person!
The
Brisker Rov’s analysis: The gemara in Berakhot
35b quotes the dispute between Rabbi Yishmael
and Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai surrounding the verse
(in Keriat Shema), “You will gather your grain,
wine and oil.” Rabbi Yishmael sees this as a source
for combining Torah study with derech eretz
(literally, the way of the world; here, a
worldly occupation). Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai counters:
Is it possible that a person will plow in the
plowing season, sow in the sowing season, reap
in the harvest season, thresh in the threshing
season, and winnow in the winnowing season [and
still learn Torah seriously]? What will become
of the Torah? Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai is forced
to limit the verse to when the Jews are not serving
G-d properly and must fend for themselves agriculturally.
Abbayei
concludes the passage with the observation: “Many
followed Rabbi Yishmael’s approach and it worked
for them; . . . Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai’s and
it did not work for them.” The Gra points out
that even though the appropriate approach for
the “many” is that of Rabbi Yishmael, there
are a number of “yechidei segula”, unique special
people in each generation, for whom the Rabbi
Shimon bar Yochai approach can work.
The
Brisker Rov thereby answers the contradiction
between Rabbi Meir = Rabbi Nehorai’s two statements.
When giving general direction, “A person should
always,” Rabbi Meir takes the Torah and derech
eretz approach, learning Torah accompanied with
a profession. When speaking of his personal approach,
he says, “I put aside all occupations in the world
and I only teach my son Torah.” This is in line
with the Rambam’s statement at the end of the
laws of Shemitta and Yovel that speak about the
legitimacy of individuals acting like the tribe
of Levi and dedicating themselves to Torah while
being supported by Klal Yisrael.
Why
are there so many people learning in Kollel today?
Contrary to some popular myths, in pre-war
Europe most Jews were either working (often starting
at age fourteen) or trying to. The yeshivot of
eastern Europe were, for the most part, elitist.
It follows that many of those who learned in kollel
became gedolei Torah. But the overwhelming majority
of Jews were involved in earning a living.
Why
has this changed in the post-war Orthodox world?
This is an atypical period in Jewish history.
Why, in many Orthodox circles, has full-time kollel
learning become such an accepted norm? Two reasons
are often given for this:
- 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.
-
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.
Even
when one adds up all the people learning in yeshivot
in Israel and the diaspora, one still only arrives
at a small fraction of the Jewish people as a
whole. The tribe of Levi was originally intended
to be supported by the whole people to be able
to devote themselves to Torah and service of Hashem
on behalf of the whole people. The population
of the yeshiva world roughly parallels that of
the tribe of Levi and can build on the biblical
model.
A
word of caution
Even if the Orthodox community (or parts of
it) is able to justify such a change from the
norm (the Rabbi Yishmael approach of combining
Torah with work), we must beware of possible negative
side effects. One example: the difficulty a working
person might find in finding shidduchim or a school
for his children in a community where kollel is
the norm. Choosing a mate should emphasize character
and fear of Hashem, not only whether someone or
his parents are involved in full time learning.
Those men and women that find that the kollel
lifestyle does not fit them should not feel disparaged
and their children should not feel embarrassed.
Next
part, G-d willing: Negative and Positive aspects
of involvement in college and the professional
world.
Adaptation
prepared by Eliezer Kwass
On
Rabbi Yitzchok Breitowitz
Rabbi Breitowitz is Associate Professor of
Law at the University of Maryland and the Rabbi
of the Woodside Synagogue in Silver Spring, Maryland.
He received Rabbinical Ordination from the Ner
Israel Rabbinical College in 1976; B.S. with honors
from Johns Hopkins University; J.D (magna cum
laude) from Harvard Law School in 1979; and a
Doctorate in Talmudic Law from Ner Israel in 1992.
He has lectured extensively throughout the US
and Israel on medical, business and family ethics.
He has published numerous articles on bankruptcy,
commercial law, medical ethics, family law, and
halakha.
