Posted to Op-Ed on
by Yochanan Kaufman

Opinion: In Response to Yanky and the System

Dear Yanky,

I read your recent article entitled “Ad Mosai? How Long Must I Be in the System?” with great interest. First of all, I want to compliment you on your writing. You say you never had a secular education, yet your writing is so clear and lucid, straight forward and thought out. In addition, while writing about something that is bothering you, you sound so positive and good natured. I commend you for that.

Regarding your question about the necessity for a bochur to learn smicha, I think your question can be divided into two separate points. First, why is it so vitally important for a bochur to continue learning until he gets married? Shouldn’t he work on acquiring the skills needed to support a family? Second, assuming that it is so important for him to learn, why smicha?

THE NECESSITY TO LEARN UNTIL MARRIAGE

From your article you seem to be someone that has an appreciation for the Yeshiva environment. You write that it was “the chassidishe and wholesome atmosphere” in Yeshiva that shaped you into the person you are today. I’m sure what you are referring to is very much similar to the atmosphere I’m sure you helped create while you were on shlichus. But in addition to the general atmosphere in Yeshiva, learning Torah has a direct affect on a person.

I once heard that Rabbi Ephraim Wolff, who was the director of all the Chabad activities in Eretz Yisroel, posed the following dilemma to the Rebbe. On many occasions he needed to make pressing decisions and wanted the Rebbe’s advice on them. However, due to the time difference between New York and Israel, he was not able to reach the Rebbe for a few hours and could not wait until then to decide. The Rebbe told him that every morning he should study Gemoro for two hours, and by doing so he would make the right decisions.

In other words, through learning Torah a person starts to think in a “Torah way.” The way he sees the world, the way he forms his opinions, and even the way he interacts with people is different. Of course there is the Mitzva of Limud HaTorah. However, the above mentioned is another reason that we spend our days learning Torah. It is what shapes us into the frum and chassidishe fathers that we want to be. Therefore, to me it would seem foolish for someone to leave this behind and go out and work earlier than absolutely necessary.

I think this is especially crucial during the year of smicha. Although a bochur develops tremendously during his yeshiva years, (or at least we hope he does,) he really becomes an independent person when he “graduates” yeshiva. The year of shlichus, and especially the years of smicha and 770, are when a bochur no longer has a mashgiach supervising him to make sure he isn’t doing anything he shouldn’t. No one is forcing him to come to seder. It is during these years that a person really becomes his own man. Spending these years in a Torah environment, and most importantly learning Torah during that time, will help him continue on the proper path.

Yanky, from your article you seem like an open minded person, so I will risk taking my point a step further. In your article you insinuate that you don’t plan on spending a year in kollel. I will be bold enough to suggest that you may want to reconsider. The first year of marriage is a crucial time during which a person, both consciously and subconsciously, makes decisions and sets standards for his house, family and life. Learning Torah and being in a Torah environment during that time will help you make those decisions and set up a yiddishe, chassidishe home.

You are right that people judge you. We live in an environment that is sometimes based on fallacies and stereotypes. Agreed. But let’s be honest with ourselves. If at this period of your life learning is the correct thing for you to do, then do it. If you are someone that wants to build a warm and chassidishe home, and you are willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish that goal, don’t allow yourself to be sidetracked by your parents telling you that you need the paper because it will affect the caliber of your shidduchim opportunities.

HOW WILL I MAKE A LIVING?

I think your concerns about getting an education and making a living are legitimate and understandable. You want to feel that you will have the skill and the ability to support a frum family, and don’t want to find yourself in a situation down the line that you cannot handle. Yanky, this is a concern you are thinking about now, but something that your parents thought about many years ago. They had the same concern when they put you in a school that had no secular education. They knew that the lack of a formal education may be difficult for you later on in life. They knew that some people may even perceive it as a handicap. However, they felt that come what may, the most important thing for you was your frum’keit. Your yiddish’keit. Your chassidish’keit. Your parents took that risk because they felt that receiving the best Jewish education possible was your greatest chance at continuing to carry on the torch that they received from their parents, and they from theirs. To them, that was more important than you having a head start at making a living. They did that because they loved you dearly and they wanted you to have what is most important in life. You now face the same decision. Should you leave the system now, after so many years, and try to “chap arein” whatever you can before you get married and are thrown into the ocean, or should you stay in an environment of Torah and lay the last few bricks to the foundation you have been building for years.

That, in my humble opinion, is the intellectual perspective to satisfy the nefesh habahamis. From a spiritual perspective, which of course is the only true perspective, the Rebbe writes in many places that a man should not worry about making a living before he gets married. Hashem, who provides to the rest of the world, will provide for him too when the time comes. (See Toras Menachem vol. 16 p. 20; vol. 31 p. 55; Igros Kodesh vol. 18 p. 506)

BUT WHY SMICHA?

Regarding the second question about why there is a need to receive smicha, I too had a similar struggle, albeit a little bit different. When I finished my year of shlichus I wanted to stay in the system and continue learning, but I enjoyed learning Gemoro. I found learning Shulchan Aruch difficult and vexatious. Sometimes I would learn a long taaz, with many different opinions and sources, but finish with no more information than when I started. I found that very frustrating and I just wanted to continue learning Gemoro like I had done my whole life. I wanted to be able to look in Rashi for explanation, and have the geshmak of understanding Tosfos’ question. But I learned Smicha. I worked for an entire year and learned Smicha. However, the reason I did it was not because my parents wanted me to do so. I did it because the Rebbe said that Bochurim should get married with smicha. (See Toras Menachem vol. 7 p. 185) Interestingly, the Rebbe also says that not only should bochurim learn smicha, but they should make sure to receive a certificate (or “di papirl” as the Rebbe refers to it in the Sicha) thus proving that they have completed smicha. (See Toras Menachem vol. 4 p. 259)

Yanky, decide by what is true, not easier. By what is right, not more attractive. Stick it out. Keep doing what you’re doing. You are doing what the Rebbe wants. You are making the Rebbe proud!

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20 Comments

  • Beautiful Response

    What a lovely, warm and respectful response to a sincere boy’s questions.

  • a bochur

    thank you so much for writing a response to the previous article. yanky raised true points, and i started doubting myself as to why i was going for smicha.

    • Yanky

      I apologize. That was absolutely not my attention. I’m glad we both got to see Rabbi Kaufman’s perspective :-)
      Signed, Yanky

  • Kudos!

    This article is well written and to the point. I hope the author of the first OpEd will be intellectually honest and take these words to hearts.

  • Mendy

    Very nice article. In today’s day and age we need more articles like this clearly articulating these points so our youth and ourselves can appreciate the system.

    Thank you for taking the time to put this on paper.

  • Dovid

    Thank you Rabbi Kaufman for your clear and intelligent explanation.
    You articulated in words what I knew in my mind. May you continue giving chassidishe guidence with much hatzlacha.

  • Well said!

    Thanks!
    Mr. Kaufman, we should hear more from you – your head is on strait!
    And… great intro – setting the stage for yanki to accept emotionally..)

  • Very well articulated

    Both the Op-Ed and its response were non-judgmental, well-written, and unbiased.
    Kudos to both of you!
    Hatzlocho Yanky in your decisions, may they be according to the wishes of the Rebbe!

  • Yanky

    Rabbi Kaufman,
    Thank you for your clearly articulated and honest answers. You’ve given me lots to think about.
    Signed, Yanky

  • Huh

    Seriously? Quotes and platitudes aside, what planet are you on?
    I finished the system including 770, went on shlichus instead of Kollel and got fired. Starting over with a wife and kids is sooo hard! So many families struggle because of “the system” and it’s a crime to deny it! We should tell the next generation of Baalei Batim the truth!
    Yanky is fortunate to realize that he’s not cut out for shlichus and therefore needs an education. I wonder if you have ever worked in a professional setting? It’s very rare to earn a decent living without advanced secular education except in sales — unless you have “connections”

  • Sad

    What the author leaves out is that without the secular education that would enable him to make a living he is doomed to a life on the dole. Forever dependant on family and government and like generations of minorities never able to feel the pride of being able to say “I made it on my own”

    • Yossel

      Living on the dole should NEVER be an option for a self-respecting Jew. But we also know that we NEVER “make it on our own,” it is only with HASHEM’s help that we earn Parnassa. A bochur with a talent for business, or a special skill, can use that to build a career. Having gotten two college degrees and now working in a totally different field, I can tell you that college isn’t necessary to build a successful parnassa. Hatzlacha!

  • From yeshiva to medical school

    Yanky, I know what you are going through. I too went through the system, Smicha and continued on to higher education. Though I have the highest respect for Shluchim, Shlichus or becoming a Rabbi was not for me either.

    You need to choose your path in life based on who you are as a person, what you are able to accomplish, and what you are able to overcome. I would recommend to speak to your Mashpiah, friends and family to help you decide what is best for you. Regardless, I highly recommend finishing your Smicha (it would be so much harder to do it later on in your life).

    Once you’ve made your decision, speak to people who have been in your shoes. For example, if you want to become a lawyer, speak to somebody who has taken the LSAT, went through Law School, and taken the Bar exam. Yeshiva is very straight forward, the only requirements is to be in Zal long enough to have your attendance taken, and not to be disruptive. It is very easy to fly bellow the radar. College and continuing education is riddled with red tape. There are deadlines, applications, prerequisites, GPA, transcripts, etc, all new things to a Yeshiva Bachor.

    I wish you good luck. Remember, the Rebbe needs also Balabatim to support his institutions. Shluchim need people to pay for their programs, and school teachers need to get paid. Besides, you can also put Teffilin on people and invite them for Shabbos as a working professional.

  • Pinchos

    we can read on this site about Dr Seligson a Chassidishe Yid who Trained a a doctor in Poland and France.

  • Reevaluation

    I think this issue regarding smicha vs. college calls for a reevaluation of our “system”. A reevaluation that will reconcile living a chassidic lifestyle with our current society.

  • simintov

    Thank you both for the most respectful and pleasant op-ed and response I’ve ever seen on this or any other site.