Answer

Torah is both a national mission and a personal one. On the national level, certainly the study and development of Torah, and passing it on to future generations, is the most important mission. But on the personal level, each individual makes decisions according to his inclinations, abilities, and desires. It is not reasonable that every person in the nation should study Torah as his main mission, both because not everyone is suited to it and because it is impossible for the world to function that way. And that is no accident. I assume that this is precisely why our talents and inclinations differ from one another: each person is meant to engage in what speaks to him and what he is talented at. I have often told people to leave yeshiva and go to another track that suits them better. They will dry up in yeshiva just in order to be righteous, and then they will grow sick of it and not really find themselves. That way, both they and the nation as a whole will lose out on both sides. I fundamentally believe in capitalism, both in economics and in society. Each person should be free to choose his tasks and occupations according to his inclinations and abilities, and that works out much better than centralism that plans and assigns tasks from the top down. Communism does not work. I am in favor of each person going toward what interests him and not trying to be righteous. Not in Torah study and not in contribution to society. If you are good at physics or law, go into that. By choosing the path and occupation he wants, a person can benefit society in many ways, and of course also study Torah as much as he can.
But there still needs to be basic training so that a person reaches a point where he can study Torah throughout his life and conduct his life according to the Torah. In my view, every young person must go through several years of Torah training and then set out on his life’s path.
I am planning a column soon that will deal with this from a certain angle.