There is a debate on Areivim that deserves exposure outside of that forum. It revolves around the idea touched upon here before… whether an individual should stay in “learning” no matter how capable. It was suggested that it is possible to become a Gadol even if one has average intelligence just as it is possible that given time and effort and with the proper teaching and attention targeted towards the specific individual, anyone can become an engineer or a scientist.
I think this is an extremely naive belief. How many engineers or scientists are there with IQs of 100? My guess is zero. But even if it's possible for one to become a scientist or engineer, one can certainly not become the "Gadol" of engineers or scientists. He will at best just be one of the crowd. But at least he will be able to provide a decent living for is family and be Koveiah Itim in the process.
Now let's tranfer this scenario to the Beis Hamedrash of a Yeshiva or a Kollel. Perhaps one with average intelligence can, with due diligence, become a knowledgeable individual... but will such a person become a Gadol? I don't think so. He will merely be one of the crowd. But that isn’t the only problem. He will also be without any job training and unable to provide for what is very likely a very large family. People of average intelligence will eventually hit a "wall" in the Beis HaMedrash and become unsatisfied with their lack of further progress... a prescription for depression for themselves and disaster for their family.
In fact anyone… even someone of great intelligence can hit “the wall” and fall victim to depression and will most definitely adversely affect his family life. The peer pressure to stay in “Learning” is so great now that if anyone has an aptitude for other areas of pursuit, it is stifled. No Ben Torah with any self respect would dare suggest that he would rather be studying medicine, law, science, or any other discipline. It is only learning Torah full time that is favorably looked upon by peers.
This attitude is one of the most unfortunate developments of what was otherwise a very noble goal... the establishment of Torah learning in its proper place amongst our people.
In the forties and fifties, when Torah learning was not held in very high esteem, it may have been necessary to push learning the way early pioneers, like Rav Aharon Kotler did. But their great successes have given rise to the current situation where the opposite is now the case. The pendulum has swung too far the other way. Now Torah learning is in its proper place in the esteem by the Torah world. But it has gone way beyond just esteem. It is now "destroying" some families. The attitude of esteem the Torah world gives to Avreichim is so great, that it is causing the current crisis of poverty amongst Charedi Bnei Torah. Not only are many people staying in learning too long they are not getting any job training at all.
We are producing a generation of ignoramuses on any subject other than Torah (especially in Israel) ...untrained in any way to enter the work force and therefore unable to earn a living wage. And they are having large families whose children are indoctrinated the same way.
And in Israel the problem is further exacerbated by not allowing even the most basic of high school educations.
And what is the answer that the Israeli rabbinic leadership screams about to solve the problem? More government subsidies! More money to Yeshivos… more money to Kollelim… more money to large families. There is not even the slightest appeal to their own people for personal responsibility. All we hear is “Gimee, gimee, gimee!” “Where’s mine!” And if they don’t think it is enough (… and it never is) they angrily resort to calling the government Anti Torah. (And even when they were getting large sums from the government, they rarely expressed Hakaras Hatov… as though they had it coming!)
This is a prescription for disaster. It is a disaster in progress that will only get worse. And in the process make secular (and even the DL communities) even more angry at Charedim looking at them as a bunch of lazy and greedy people taking more and more money from the government without giving anything back… not in taxes and not in work productivity. True or not, that perception will continue to grow if the current trend continues.
But... I don't believe it matters to the rabbinic leadership. With the exception of very few leaders (Rav Aharon Leib Steinman is a notable exception) they are going to continue screaming bloody murder about the government "not being fair" to Charedim, instead of changing their entire approach. Never has there been a more propitious time than now to change over to the type of system I have advocated as far back as I can remember… one that allows for a decent secular education with an eye towards Parnasa. This goes well beyond my own Hashkafa of Torah uMada. It is a barebones necessity for our continued survival. In my view there has to be at least a high school level education for all Bnei Torah followed by some form of job training.
This can be in the form of going to college or technical school at night (or during the day if necessary) while continuing to be a part of a Yeshiva and learning every other available Seder… BEFORE… marriage (but after spending two or three years learning without any distractions… preferably in Israel). Once trained, he can then get married and learn in Kollel for two or three years. And when ready, at about age 25 or so, he will be able to either get into a professional school or get a job with decent pay. He will be prepared. And for those few who have Gadol potential, college or the like will not hurt them.
If ever there were an Eis Laasos... it is now. If nothing is done, the numbers of poverty stricken Bnei Torah will increase exponentially over the next few generations… and so will the enmity of everyone else outside the “system” towards them.
