Recognition of the economic implications of marginalizing secular education

Hi, welcome to my blog.

As an average jew living in Brooklyn and davening at one of the local shtiblach I have seen the progression of the yeshiva world rightward over the last two decades. Other than the annoying chumra du jour, it doesn't really affect my life. However, I find the axiomatic rejection of secular education problematic as a long term strategy for a sustainable and healthy community.

When I was in high school in the 80's, the Rabbeim and yeshiva did not emphasize the importance of basic competency in secular subjects. This has progressed to the extent that a secular education is viewed as undesirable in some circles. The emphasis on learning to the exclusion of all other endeavors has resulted in a financial reliance on parents well into young adulthood without providing the basic tools for self reliance.

While the emphasis on Torah learning is understandable and has resulted in more sophisticated halachic knowledge and observance it has resulted in a community with an impending financial crisis that will not be resolved by bitachon alone. There is currently an astounding amount of poverty within the Frum community. This is sure to get worse in the near future as the Baby Boomer parents age and are unable to support their children's families. The children will then be unable to support themselves adequately, resulting in decreased shalom bayis and the attendant risks of divorce and traumatized grandchildren. It will also result in less support for torah institutions, more financial strain on the community at large to support the unemployed and in the end, a backlash against the leaders of our community who encouraged the philosophy of learning without a long term plan.

It is likely that the next generation will not have the luxury of learning rather than working. They may even reject the notion due to the trauma they endured as children which they will associate with a learning lifestyle. Even mature children who recognize the underlying ideals will feel uncomfortable with a learning lifestyle if they associate it with a lack of security at a young age.

It is difficult to advocate decreasing the emphasis on learning when it is the ultimate goal of every jew. It is even more difficult for our leaders to do so in a public setting given the importance of learning in our lives. However, it is their responsibility to do so. An attempt was made approximately 10 years ago. A major Brooklyn institution was prepared to offer two tracks, one that was exclusively learning and one that allowed one day a week for vocational training. The details had been arranged. Unfortunately, the individual spearheading the program was threatened by a major torah personality. If he put the program into effect, the torah personality would ensure that his children never got married. The reasoning was that one of these children who would have become a Rosh Yeshiva would become an auto mechanic instead.

I find this attitude counterproductive in several ways. You seldom find Roshei Yeshiva who could have been auto mechanics. People tend to be one or the other. There are relatively few Roshei Yeshiva. More than brilliance is required. Wisdom, maturity, devotion, are only influenced in part by how much you learn. The greatest gedolim were not known exclusively for their learning ability or the number of hours they sat in the Bais HaMedrash. Their personalities and intellect worked synergistically to produce superior human beings. It would be logical to expect, that while the overall level of jewish scholarship is enhanced by a philosophy mandating exclusively Torah as education and employment, there is a law of diminishing returns. Beyond this point, more people in Bais Medrash comes at high cost to the kehilla at large and those that do not excel in particular. To turn a blind eye to the fact that they will be left without means and will have to rely on others' support, to intentionally set out on a path that will consume vast resources that would otherwise be used for a myriad of important issues, undermines the very education you advocate. A large amount of people will be set up to fail. Looking back, they may regret the course they chose. The people who support them will not view the cost/benefit ratio with the same enthusiasm as those who benefit from their support. When the torah leadership fails to recognize the cost they are incurring and demanding of their supporters by their policies, when they don't pay the least bit of attention to the issue, it does not sit well with those paying the bill. It does not instill respect. It smacks of entitlement. I suspect that struggling families and organizations appreciate it even less. At the end of the day it appears Bain adam l'makom trumps Bain adam l'chavero, and that is not a good point to drive home.

It is the responsibility of the torah leadership to look out for all jews in every aspect of their lives. The number of hours spent learning is just part of the picture. The fact that this is not the pre-eminent issue among the Gedolei Hatorah and the community at large is a condemnation of our concern for our fellow jew. We are not concerned enough about people,families, children, to address this issue seriously and to solve it before it becomes an unmitigated disaster. And time is running out.

I started this blog in an effort to discuss this issue in a socially acceptable manner, and to organize a grass-roots effort to have it addressed formally and publicly by our leaders,to force them to formulate a workable strategy for sustainable growth in learning and fulfillment in yiddishkeit for the next fifty years. I welcome your comments.