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'Holy loafers'
By Rabbi Berel Wein
http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
IN THE LATEST ISSUE of the Jerusalem Report magazine, Ze'ev Chafets wrote
an article entitled "The Talmud Market." The article is an attack on the
Talmud and the study of Talmud as it is practiced in yeshivas here in
Israel and throughout the world. Chafets himself reveals his direction when
he writes "I ask a simple question about the Talmud: What's it good for?"
His proof of the uselessness of Talmudic study is purely economic. He
writes, "The marketplace is a hard master, it rarely affords a living wage
to someone for pursuing a hobby or interest that is of no general use...
They [the students of the Talmud] are, as a result [of studying Talmud
exclusively], unable to build a bridge, pull a tooth, unstop a drain or
grow a tomato. They are fit for nothing but teaching the Talmud to others.
Unhappily there is no market for such people." He therefore lumps most of
the students of the Talmud into a nasty sounding group of "tens of
thousands of holy loafers."
Now Chafets is certainly entitled to his opinions. His vitriolic comments
about traditional Jewish life and its beliefs and practices are well-known
to those who read his column. However, one would have hoped that he would
at least have something new to say about the subject. Instead he is merely
repeating the statements made to the rabbis of the Talmud themselves many
long centuries ago.
For the Jewish people itself is basically
an impractical entity. And the State of Israel, even today fifty-one years
after its founding, is still not a rational or even militaristically or
economically justifiable venture. But, since it is Jewish, it need not
somehow conform to the rules of the marketplace or the acceptance and
blessing of the European Union in order to thrive and survive.
It is the very fact that there are tens of thousands of young men, all of
whom could have an easier and more comfortable life if they abandoned the
yeshivas (even including army service in the equation), that should cause
others to wonder why this phenomenon of intensive and devoted Talmud study
continues to persist in our modern society. We should stand back and view
the sight of the rebirth and growth of Torah study in our post-Holocaust
generations with wonder and echo the words of Moses at the sight of the
burning bush - "and, lo, the bush is not consumed!" Torah, the Talmud, its
students and adherents are major assets of the Jewish people. They form the
link to our past and point us towards our destiny. Without them, we have no
claim to this land, to our uniqueness as a people, to our values and system
of morals.
While much of the modern world, including many, many Jews, search
for meaning and direction in their lives, a meaning and direction over and
above what the marketplace dictates, the vast majority of the students of
Torah and Talmud have a serenity and stability in life that should be an
object of envy and not of spiteful ridicule. But prejudices and
shortsightedness are omnipresent in all generations. So I imagine that I
should not be surprised by Chafets' repetition of the old worn-out
question "What's it good for?" Well, it has been good for Jewish survival
for millennia - that is essentially what it is good for. To call full-time
students of the Talmud "holy loafers" is not just bad manners and insulting
condescension. It is a complete misunderstanding and lack of appreciation
of all of Jewish history and Jewish life.
There is nothing to
be gained from a one-sided, bitter condemnation of the Talmud and its
students. A large section of even the secular Jewish public senses that
there is a hidden, inexplicable and valuable national treasure - the Talmud
and its devoted students - that should not be destroyed. It may be very
true that many (certainly not all) of the Talmud students are "unable to
build a bridge, pull a tooth, unstop a drain or grow a tomato." But not to
worry, they will all be able to be
"Of what good are your yeshiva students?" was the
question hurled at the heads of the yeshivas in Babylonia in the fourth
century. Those students could also not build a bridge, pull a tooth, unstop
a drain or grow a tomato. But the rabbis of the Talmud, whose words are
still studied and admired today by millions of Jews, stated that "the study
of Torah is above all else in Jewish life." And it was and is the study of
Torah above all else that has preserved the Jewish people until today. The
impractical, non-economically-rewarding, other-worldly study of Torah was
the main force that has kept the Jewish people alive, vibrant, creative and
stubborn to the core until today.
Every educational system and institution is imperfect. There are always
misfits, foul-ups and incompetents present in every student body, faculty
and educational administration. The schools of Torah are in no way immune
from problems and shortcomings. But then neither are the universities or
professional schools of this or any other country. It should be the goal of
all of our society to attempt to improve the efficiency and performance of
all of our schools and students. This includes the improvement of the
situation of all schools including the yeshivas and their students in a
financial, educational, vocational and national sense.
JWR contributor Rabbi Berel Wein is one of Jewry's foremost historians and
founder of the Destiny Foundation. He resides in Jerusalem. You may contact Rabbi
Wein by by clicking here or calling 1-800-499-WEIN (9346).
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