Q&A: On Bein HaZmanim
On Bein HaZmanim
Question
Have a good week, Rabbi Michael!
We don’t know each other, so I’ll introduce myself:
My name is Tz., I study at Hesder Yeshiva X, first-year shiur, and I’ve heard a lot about you from my cousin.
I’m reaching out to you because I often read the things you write and feel a great deal of identification with what you say.
After thinking a lot on the Sabbath about the issue of bein hazmanim, I decided to post something I wrote about it on Saturday night.
Personally, I feel a deep identification with what I wrote, and so it’s important to me to hear the opinions, thoughts, and feelings of as many people as possible about this matter.
Since I think your words are especially deep and sincere, I’d be very happy to hear what you have to say on the subject. Feel free to respond privately, or on the post.
The post in question:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=296236777463415&id=100012312845366
All the best, may we hear good news,
Answer
Hello Tz.,
I don’t have Facebook, so I’ll respond here.
Overall, it’s nice, but it seems to me that the final message isn’t entirely clear. What is the difference, if there is one at all, between your conclusion and what your friend says? Do you mean to say that during bein hazmanim you can do whatever you want, but view it as preparation for the semester or as part of life itself? Or do you mean that one should make good use of bein hazmanim? Or perhaps you mean not to completely let go and to leave some small Torah spark in the heart of the darkness? It didn’t come out clearly to me.
I tend toward the last interpretation, and then I would expand it to life itself. For most people, yeshiva is not life, and the question is whether the life after yeshiva is in the category of bein hazmanim, and what one is supposed to do there. (Between which times, exactly?) Should bein hazmanim in yeshiva look like life afterward, or is it still part of yeshiva? And perhaps there is no difference?
A side note: it should be “at the same time” and not “at time,” as you wrote twice.
All the best, success, and happy holiday.
Regards to your cousin,