On Harediism

1. Regarding the issue of childishness that characterizes quite a few Haredim – I also encounter this phenomenon a lot and I wonder whether it is derived from the mental quarantine that many Haredim (even intelligent ones) impose on themselves (to be disconnected from the realities of the world in order to remain “innocent”) or whether it is the opposite – people with a childish nature have the potential to be Haredim, because the Haredi mentality is a place of comfort for them (or both, as I have often heard in condemnations of dichotomies 🙂 )
2. I cannot define myself as a former close friend of Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky – but I was certainly a kind of householder with Rabbi Tuvia Yaakovson, who is married to Rabbi Chaim’s niece and even lives in the mythical Rashbam 10, and I can testify that the admiration for Rabbi Chaim stems, in my humble opinion, from great appreciation for his famous and legendary diligence, and also from the fact that he is attributed (perhaps as a result of his diligence) a kind of Holy Spirit. And we are not talking about innocent “people” who believe in everything, but even great rabbis I have known actually refer to Rabbi Chaim as a supreme saint from previous generations.
3. On the subject of study, I really identified with the insight regarding the type of study in yeshivot. After my marriage, I left Netivot Olam and moved (following my wife’s studies) to Yeshiva Ofakim (as is known – a yeshiva of mainly Mazruhnik high school students who “burned out”, but more of the learned among them – the few who went to Kiryat Malachi Yeshiva). The head of the yeshivot was Rabbi Yaakov Horwitz (a former Mazruhnik himself) and he would give magnificent and complex lessons, in the best tradition of yeshivot heads, while at his side was Rabbi Chaim Kamil (an authentic Jerusalemite by origin). He studied and taught more on the page, the depth of the simple, without fireworks. After about 5 years in the yeshiva (which I would like to point out is that I have never encountered a place where learning is so much alive – both young men and young women, the amazing perseverance of almost everyone there) I decided to leave and the main reason was (as I explained to my wife) that I felt like I was in a constant competition for achievement – who would create the most brilliant group, renew the most elaborate and sparkling sabra, etc. (there was a rotation among the young men for handing out groups) and it felt to me that this was not it, intuitively…. Yesterday my insight became more acute – the competitiveness and the fireworks are supposed to chart a path, they are not the path itself, and I probably felt it then.

Thanks in advance.