Torah study
You recently wrote in the Responsa
It is certainly possible to make a living from studying Torah, but only for a certain quality group.
The problem is that we have an entire public that makes a living from this (albeit barely and only as a scholarship and not as a salary, which is simply just for the cancellation of time) and not just a select group that deserves it.
2 questions:
- What is the criterion for talent? There are many who can be rabbis. I estimate that at least 60 percent can be good rabbis who know how to instruct the public. Should only the super-talented who can write books like the Kitzvah go to the kollel?
- There is no argument that the top 10% of the talented need to study, but then who will create technological inventions for us? Who will sit at the Weizmann Institute? Of course, the question is in the ideal situation where all of my people would be keepers of the Torah… Is it correct to state that everyone would be in the kollel and stand as strangers and shepherd your flocks, and the sons of foreigners would be your farmers and your vineyards?
- If the answer to 2 is that not all 10 percent need to be in the kollel, then what is the criterion for deciding who will be in the kollel? If everyone wants to, who will you refuse?
I don’t have a criterion. There is common sense. Some reasonable number of people with talent and a willingness to sit down and learn over time should be determined. There are few of them, and people need to be sorted out as for any position.
Someone who studies to serve as a rabbi does not need to be financed. This is professional training. I’m talking about financing for students, not professional training at the expense of the state.
Talent is not the only parameter, nor is there just one talent. A person can be very talented but not passionate about Torah or not suited to Torah and yet be suited to mathematics or physics.
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