An Abundance of Torah Options

aaron — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:00:24 +0000

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 those topics again and again. Picking oneself up and learning something “exotic” wasn’t much of an option, unless you were willing to do it yourself, without a chabura and perhaps not even a chavrusa.

Today, one who wishes to learn for an extended length of time, there are plenty of options. In Lakewood there are hundreds of chaburas learning everything and anything under the sun. One who wishes to find an exciting topic to learn doesn’t have to look far. Even areas that were once off limits for yeshiva guys, such as practical halacha, shchita, and hashgacha are very popular and well acccepted.

This leads us to the following observation:

If you are in kollel and feeling unmotivated, it may just be that you are looking for something exciting to learn. You may have had enough of the lomdus and the yeshivishe reid. Go choose from the endless possibilities that are available to you. Figure out what it is that entices you, that something which resonates within you, and go become the biggest specialist in that field. (Think of R’ Chaim Zvi Gorelick in T’chumin or R’ Eliezer Stefansky in Mikvaos.)

But if after choosing amongst all the possibilities you are still feeling unmotivated, and staying in kollel no longer excites you, that is a sure sign that it may be time to move on. Every person needs to feel special about themselves, especially about what they do. If it is in learning, go out and make a market for yourself by conquering a topic of learning that will be “yours”. But if nothing in learning excites you, it’s time to seriously consider moving on.

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Anti Kollel Sentiment on the Rise

aaron — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:02:36 +0000

You may think that anti kollel sentiment is found primarily in modern orthodox circles, where the boys typically go to college, get a degree, and find a career for themselves. However, you may be surprised to learn that more and more, even mainstream yeshivishe people are expressing negative views about kollel. I was giving someone a ride who told me how they overheard their mother – who has 3 sons-in-law and 1 son in kollel – vehemently arguing against remaining in kollel long term. She was discussing this with her brother, who has 4 children of his own in kollel and has learned many years in kollel himself, and he was even more opposed to it than she was. It seems that many people – even those who would never send their boys to college, and who have married children in kollel, tend to have a negative view on long term kollel.

The obvious reason why these people are against kollel is clearly due to the impossible financial burden that is placed on the parents of the kollel member they are supporting. In order to entice “top guys”, the parents of the girl are forced to pay top dollar in support, which is usually something beyond their means. When 50 and 60 year old couples, who already put in their years of work when they were younger, are forced to work long grueling hours to support their childrens’ “mesirus nefesh”, it is to no surprise that they feel just a little bit resentful.

The situation today is that most of the older generation themselves did not learn in kollel. They don’t necessarily have a true appreciation for kollel, other than they must support their childrens’ learning because:

That is what my son/daughter wants
That is the only way she can get a good shidduch

Eventually, these motivations wear thin, other children come of age, the parents grow older, and the natural feelings come to the surface. If you are on the receiving end of support, just know the likely feelings your parents have towards your learning. Realizing this will help keep you in the right perspective as you go about deciding your life plan.

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Lost in Kollel » yeshivish

An Abundance of Torah Options

Anti Kollel Sentiment on the Rise