מאי אהני לן רבנן? (What Is the Point of Torah Scholars?)

A post from contributor זכרון דברים, on a perennial topic

The prohibited question in the title is one that flares up constantly in Klal Yisroel. Sometimes, it is in the context of a complaint a parent has regarding a child who refuses to pursue a career, on other occasions it is an attack on the Israeli Charedi way of life, or a simple observation of a person who sees a Yungerman hurrying past with a Sefer under his arm.

The exquisite forbidden taste of this question makes it all the more titillating to the questioner, especially when it can be coupled with a random story of a Talmid Chacham who did not live up to the expectations one may have of a person living an elevated life.

Those of us who are living this lifestyle or are closely familiar with those who do, are not generally particularly bothered by this question. But when the other side has the upper hand, and they constantly bombard the atmosphere with these problems, the waters can get muddied, people’s convictions can loosen and weaken, and the question may ring in people’s ears, long after the questioner has found something else to assuage the emptiness in his secular soul.

They mistakenly believe that the only occasion on which it is permitted to receive money from public funds for learning is when the learning is coupled with, or geared towards a career in, teaching others and elevating their spiritual status. Learning for private edification or spiritual advancement may not be done on other people’s dime. Of course, this is a misquote of the Shulchan Aruch, but this opinion is quoted there as a step along the way of the Halachic process, and some people stop their journey there.

When the Kollel Yungerman, or the Baal Habayis supporting him, is exposed to this question, it can cause him to question his position in the world and reexamine his life’s choices.

This can have contradictory meanings – either the question a full-time learner has regarding himself, “How am I fulfilling my potential by spending years on Sugyos of Dichuy bedamim that will probably never be relevant? How is my life meaningful with this work?” Or the question could be posed outwards, “How does the world benefit from my delving into the true meaning of the shiabud of a mashkon? Will it make anyone’s life easier?”

The Yetzer Hara has no problem using contradictory arguments, most of them have more significant logical fallacies than these. The Yetzer Hara still has a powerful sway over our psyches, especially when it comes to the great Mitzvah of Talmud Torah.

Some people contort the Gemara to limit the zilzul to those who indeed don’t assist anyone else with their learning. They learn alone, or with others of similar interests in the much vilified ‘ivory tower’, and they don’t share their learning with others. They will agree that someone who learns with the goal of teaching others is laudable, but most of them, in their view, do not.

The Gemara expounds on the parameters of this prohibited question מעולם לא שרו לן עורבא ולא אסרו לן יונה – they never managed to permit a crow or to forbid a dove. The Apikores asking this question is bothered by the fact that no Halacha changes due to the learning of this Rabanan, what has he provided for the world?

The default answer, the go-to explanation for all of us is by considering the metaphysical. The world is a better place because there are people who learn Torah because they uphold the spiritual underpinnings of the universe. To this reasoning, the benefits of the Talmid Chacham’s learning are utilized by all, yet visible to none. Our entire survival depends on the Yungerman sitting quietly over his Gemara, and we are enjoined to believe this with no physical evidence.

Of course, much of our Torah has to be taken on belief, and we cannot discount anything because we have not seen its benefits. We have never observed schar ve’onesh with our own eyes, yet it is a tenet of our belief. 

However, the reliance on the metaphysical is insufficient and unfair. The average person, even of an academic bent, has no experience of the abstract. His life is focused on the here and now, and the Halachos he fulfills are all based on physical entities. It takes many years of in-depth learning, the type followed by long-term Kollel yungeleit, to appreciate the conceptual underpinnings of all corporeal Halachos and to understand their connection. If the only way a person could appreciate the learning of a Talmid Chacham is to become a Talmid Chacham, we have not left any place for the non-Talmid Chacham to stay a believing Jew.

We all believe in the metaphysical aspects of Judaism; it is virtually impossible to keep Torah as Klal Yisroel keeps it without resorting to some Kabbala. The Magen Avraham, and subsequently virtually all Poskim, use the Arizal for various Halachos, and they have been quasi-canonized throughout history. A person cannot hide behind the anti-Kabbala opinions of the Middle Ages to deny the meta-physical cosmic benefits of the person who is learning Torah. But the distance from knowledge to internalization of concepts is one of the greatest in the universe, and a person can be excused for not fully feeling and experiencing that which he intellectually knows to be true.

The benefits of Lomdei Torah are not limited to the cosmic, and no knowledge of Nefesh Hachaim is necessary, although it helps. I compiled a list of these benefits, to assist those who do not wish to be included in the מאי אהני לן רבנן category. For those who don’t care, this will not persuade them. But for those who are still subservient to Chazal and Hashem’s Torah, this may assist.

General spiritual influence

When a person delves into Halacha and his life is dedicated to understanding the Halacha, he will inevitably improve his behavior. Nobody can learn Hilchos Tefilla and not emerge with a greater appreciation for the details of Tefilla and its benefits. 

When a person has learned many Halachos, his actions will usually show us how he has been transformed. Even someone who has not merited much learning will be influenced by this Ben Torah. He does not have his own appreciation for Halacha, because he has not learned much. But he will see how someone else treats Halacha with the utmost respect, and that will inevitably rub off on him. He did not deliver a Shiur; he is not a leader in the congregation or a hired Mashgiach. But people change their behavior due to him.

The Ba’al Habayis has to keep Torah just like the Kollel Yungerman, those advocating for the cessation of long-term Kollel for all cannot disagree with this. This Ba’al Habayis may be living off his own motivation. But many will be influenced by seeing the level of a Kollel Yungerman’s dedication. How is that not beneficial to people around him?

The Rav’s conscience

Rabbis are appointed and elected nowadays based on a specific skill set of theirs. The successful candidate may be an entertaining speaker, an empathetic listener, or someone who is fun to be around. He may have people skills that make him a popular Rabbinic therapist. Of course, Semicha is still a prerequisite, and he will hopefully have the knowledge necessary to answer the questions he may be asked. However, the only way to ensure that a Kehilla will have a true Talmid Chacham at its helm is if the members demand it. A kehilla of fully religious, yet not particularly learned, Baalebatim will not be conscious of the need for the Rav to display scholarship, neither will they be connoisseurs of said scholarship.

Even if Halacha and Torah are in the hands of Rabbis, the only way the correct Rabbi will be chosen, and consequently potential Rabbis will be trained, is through the quiet yungerman in the corner.

Additionally, when this Rav is faced with a Halachic question, he is surrounded by people who can critique his decision, offer proof, and discuss the issue with him. He knows that he cannot say whatever he wants, there are people that will serve as his conscience.

Role Models

Nobody disputes that our job in this world is to spend our time serving Hashem, and the primary service is through learning. The Torah says vedibarta bam and Rashi quotes the Sifrei that the possuk means, ‘your primary speech should be regarding Torah’. This is an extremely difficult Halacha to fulfill, when we are so busy earning a living. If a person has forty-five minutes to daven Shacharis at 6am, and must catch a train at 7, which arrives at 8:15 to start a day of chasing numbers, goading underlings to work, satisfying the boss’ ego, taking risks and following possible business leads, he is exhausted by the time his 6pm train is ready to leave. At 7:15 pm, he is ready to begin his day. His ‘main speech’ is now, when he sits in front of a Gemara or a Shulchan Aruch, and begins the real slog of understanding, interpreting, assimilating, and internalizing information. He still has Maariv to daven, possible simchos to attend, children to take care of, and a family to greet. How does learning remain a priority? Even if not for the Halacha of making Torah a person’s primary speech, even if it remains of secondary importance, how is he to remain focused on this priority? On a vacation day, on Shabbos or Sunday, on the train to and from work – how is he to focus on his primary vocation which is learning Torah?

As he walks into Shul for Maariv, he notices Reb Yehuda leaving the Beis Hamedrash to don his hat and jacket and wash his hands for Maariv. Reb Yehuda never says a Shiur and hasn’t written a Sefer. He has spent his day trying to understand the Ba’al Hama’or on an obscure topic in Choshen Mishpat. Yet he has a smile on his face; he has spent his day with a purpose. When our Ba’al Habayis sees Reb Yehuda, he is reminded of the true purpose of life. He may have spent more time in the office with money and status chasers and the emptiness of contemporary America, but Reb Yehuda reminded him for whom the bell really tolls.

Reb Yehuda’s influence is immeasurable, even without opening his mouth. Our Ba’al Habayis is more likely to add a Seder to his day, and when he makes enough money to set his own hours, he will not utilize the extra free time to read newspapers or pass around jokes on the family chat. He knows what time is made for, and he will use it well.

Someone to learn with

On a more pragmatic level, many working people do not have the head to learn after a long day of disconnection from anything to do with Torah. It is difficult for them to shift their focus and delve into abstract Halachos, conceptual ideas, and the difficult syntax that is a Daf of Gemara or a gloss of the Poskim.

Some people can attend a Shiur. The Rav or Magid Shiur, who has set out his life to teach Torah to others, will teach a Daf of Gemara, a Halacha, or a Shiur on a topic of interest. However, many people do not find this satisfying, especially if they have once tasted the depths of personal learning. They need a Chavrusa, but they cannot learn with someone who is in a similar situation to them. They need someone whose mind is clear and who can teach, explain, encourage, and stimulate a person to learn.

He looks like a regular Yungerman, who only learns for himself. But he is available for a couple of baalebatim per day, who should rightfully pay for the privilege of learning with him. Is he providing a public service? Just because he does not have an official position in learning does not mean he is not providing a public service.

This is not only true regarding the baaleboss himself. His child in school may need tutoring to keep up with the class, he may wish to learn another Maseches on the side and he may have free time in the summer that must be filled with some learning. The yungerman is available to learn with him, and absent long term lomdim, our children will also suffer.

A picture of how things should be

Reb Chaim Brisker famously told Reb Meir Simcha of Dvinsk, “How do we know that Tyumkin doesn’t know how to learn? Because Reb Meir Simcha is the real Rav of Dvinsk.” The background to this story is the tale of the Kozyone Rabbonim of Russia. The government-appointed Rabbonim were generally amei ha’aretz who were graduates of Rabbinic training seminaries. When the government wished to shut down the double Rabbinic positions, in which the bona-fide Rabbonim were the Talmimdei Chachamim and the government Rabbis were considered the functionaries, some Rabbonim were supportive. They had suffered from the government Rabbonim attempting to overstep their boundaries. Reb Chaim was telling Reb Meir Simcha that the idea of two Rabbonim kept the difference between them in focus. If Tyumkin were to lose his job, Reb Meir Simcha would be alone in the position. But for the next generation, there would be no way of comparison between the real Rabbonim and the posers.

Nowadays, Rabbinic training schools are producing Rabbis yearly. How are Kehillos supposed to differentiate between the posers and the real thing? All can deliver polished speeches, and all have passed the Semicha tests. None of them confuse the dates of the Yamim Tovim (as Tyumkin used to do), and we are unlikely to hear of a Rabbi talking about going to Kol Nidrei on Shavuos night (see memoirs of Rabbi Meir Bar-Ilan for a story about a Kozyone Rav who did so). But many are not too knowledgeable about anything outside that which they have studied in their few years in Yeshiva and that which they can Google.

However, a community that includes Kollel Yungeleit are not that easily fooled. They know who can learn and who can’t. No speech about the cultural significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls will convince them that the candidate is a suitable Rav to teach Torah. Without teaching a word or even giving a speech, the Ben Torah has steered a community in the right direction.

How do we truly know who will grow?

When a group of people enters Yeshiva or Kollel, some will end up as Rabbanim and Roshei Yeshiva, Rebbeim and Klei Kodesh. Some will not. The only way to ensure that we have sufficient Klei Kodesh is to assist a large pool of people to enter the equation.

It is not at all clear that the one with the greater intelligence or ambition will be the one successful in learning. If we were to sort everyone into ability levels from a young age, we will lose out on many great Talmidei Chachamim and Marbitzei Torah.

Even if the purpose is only Klei Kodesh, we need a large group of people entering the field to ensure we have the best.

צוותא (collaboration)

A Talmid Chacham cannot grow in a vacuum. He needs Chavrusos, friends, people to talk to and people to appreciate him. If only one member of a Kollel is likely to teach Torah, he also needs the rest of the Kollel to build him up. Essentially, the only way that one Rebbe was produced was through the group effort of his entire Kollel.

We all need Kollelim to provide us with quality Klei Kodesh, otherwise we will have mediocre Rebbeim, Rabbanim, Roshei Yeshiva, and Dayanim.