All Entries in the "Deciding to Leave" Category
What Do You Not Know How to Do?
As bein hazmanim rolls around, I want you to ask yourself the question, “What don’t I know how to do?” Every man learning in kollel, without exception, uses this time to ostensibly “get ready” for yom tov. This includes fixing things around the house, finding interesting places to go on vacation, even dabble a bit [...]
42 Years Old and No Job – What Should He Do?
The following encounter happens so often these days. A friend of mine who is in his 40′s and his children are rapidly approaching shidduchim asked me what I think he should go into. He learned in kollel many years, and now does odd jobs around a yeshiva where he earns a pittance. He tried like [...]
Leaving the Tayva
After the Mabul was over, Hashem had to command Noah to leave the Tayva. Not only that, he was told to tell the animals to go out onto the world, if they would refuse to do so take them out by force. Why would they want to stay? The answer is simple: They were simply [...]
If You Want to Stay in Learning…
There are many who learn in kollel that put aside learning for a few weeks (or months) to do seasonal jobs, such as lifeguarding or head counseloring in the summers. Some yungerleit are involved in selling esrogim, and others become a mashgiach for pesach in a hotel. Why is this kind of activity permitted and [...]
An Abundance of Torah Options
In the olden days of 20-30 years ago, learning in kollel “long term” offered very few options. Historically, a kollel was formed an extension of a yeshiva, which is geared primarily towards the lomdus of noshim & nezikin. After a few years, one would begin to feel a lack of satisfaction in continuing to learn [...]
Is Kollel Holding You Back From Leaving?
“Started with nothing and became a multi millionaire.” You’ve heard this phrase many times, and often it is said about people that you are intimately familiar with. So many holocaust survivors came to this country with less than nothing – no family, no money, totally unfamiliar with the new country and its language – yet [...]
Aaron Kotler Lakewood Interview
Recently, Mishpacha magazine interviewed Rabbi Aaron Kotler, the CEO of Lakewood yeshiva. He discussed how the Jewish (frum) community of Lakewood has grown drastically over the past 25 years, which he credited much of it to the work of his father Rav Shneur Kotler. He also spoke about the current economic environment, how former talmidim [...]
Don’t Fight the System
Some of my readers consider the topic of this site controversial. As such, I tend to get lots of email that is critical of my viewpoints. As is typical with anonymous emails, many of them are written without much intelligence, and as such I don’t even bother replying to them. However, I do occasionally get [...]
When You Feel Old…
Feeling old is a real phenomenon, and it is a sure sign that you’ve got to get out. I’ve heard from people who stayed in kollel many years, all the time learning with great diligence, but once they realized how “old” they were, they decided to leave kollel and change their lives. On top of [...]
Burn Your Bridges – And Win
Aish shows in this video the concept of “burning your bridges” – a guaranteed way to get you motivated in doing things that you always have the ability to do, but just never get around to doing them. Ever wonder why there are deadlines? Because if there wouldn’t be any, nothing would get done. Imagine [...]
