My reaction to the Cross-Currents post, "Chiddush [something new] in Our “Beis Medrash”

Jack linked me to this post in his Haveil Havalim roundup--thanks! Here's a nice chunk:

"By Yaakov Rosenblatt

Hewed by Hashem into the essence of man is the need – the unmistakable and existential need – to add something to the experiences, choices, and lifestyle of the generation before it.

. . .

Fourth Generation

My generation (35 yrs) added something, too. Our Torah education, with college off the agenda, was more intense than that of our parents. Our internal intensity received external expression in our black velvet yarmulkes, tzitzis out, payos behind the ears, white shirts and dark pants (and sharp ties and Borsalinos on Shabbos). We saw the creation of the frum press which gave our commitment security. We looked to the Gedolim of Eretz Yisroel for psak din [rulings in Jewish law] and more and more for Hashkafa [Jewish philosophy]. Gemachim [Free loan funds], while founded conceptually by the generation before us, were brought to a new level by our generation. A 1985 Lakewood Gemach directory and a 2005 Lakewood Gemach directory say it all.

We ‘sat and learned’ longer after marriage than the generation before us. My own wife worked in a New Jersey Day School while I learned in Lakewood for three years, and we then moved to an out of town Kollel where I remained for another five years.

. . .

Many in my generation see remaining in kollel or klei kodesh [religious work] for their entire lives as their chiddush [addition] to the last generation. Economics of the 60’s didn’t allow it. But today, real estate profits and generous government programs allow for more klei kodesh careers than ever before. An average family size of six creates a new teaching position for every four families (24 kids). Adding positions in administration, fundraising, kashrus, rabbanus, kiruv, and safrus, a klei kodesh position is created by just three frum families paying their bills on time.”

On the plus side, these folks are doing a lot of good work by running "Gemachs" (G'milut Chassidism/Deeds of Kindness Societies). But the rest of the above really floored me.

So let me get this straight. Deliberately avoiding going to college is a wonderful idea? Ignoring local rabbis and paying attention to the Israeli "Gedolim" ("Great Ones," respected rabbinic scholars) alone is great? (Are there no Gedolim in the entire Western Hemisphere?) Seven years of study that might or might not lead one to get a job that will enable one to support a family of six-ten children is awesome? Having, say, 10-25% of the population employed as "professional Jews" (rabbis, scribes, etc.) doesn't put a burden on a community?

I copied my comments into Word, in case they didn't get past the moderator:

. . . When my father broke his leg, my mother went back to work to support us, because she would rather have died than go on Welfare. Since when did it become perfectly acceptable in the Jewish community for whole lifestyles to be based on perfectly able-bodied people living for years on end on hand-outs from the government?

In my generation, being a college graduate was a chiddush. In my son’s, it’s a necessity. My husband is a college accounting instructor, and he can tell you for a fact that his students are desparately [oops--desperately] seeking college degrees because it’s becoming increasing difficult to get a job that pays enough to support a family without one. I fear that, after two generations of parents without a college education, the Chareidi community will find its institutions suffering massive financial failure because there won’t be enough people making a decent living to keep the community’s organizations alive. I would hate to see a situation in which the last person to leave the bet midrash would have to turn off the lights permanently because no one could afford to pay even the electric bills, much less the rent. Im ein kemach, ein torah.

Comment by Shira Salamone — December 12, 2006 @ 9:12 pm Your comment is awaiting moderation.

And what about the impact of diminishing income on marriage? Is there any truth to the rumor that young ladies are already having difficulty with shidduchim (finding marital matches) because their fathers can’t afford to support prospective sons-in-laws’ plans to spend a few years in kollel?

“We looked to the Gedolim of Eretz Yisroel for psak din [rulings in Jewish law] and more and more for Hashkafa [Jewish philosophy].” I confess to being puzzled as to what the point is in supporting all these wonderful learning opportunities in the local community if one is not interested in what any of the local scholars has to say.

Comment by Shira Salamone — December 12, 2006 @ 9:29 pm Your comment is awaiting moderation.