Q&A: Torah Study
Torah Study
Question
You recently wrote in a responsum that one can definitely make a living from Torah study, but only for a certain high-quality group. The problem is that in our community there is an entire public that makes its living from this (albeit barely, and only through a stipend rather than a salary—which, simply speaking, is only for lost time), and not just a select group that is truly suited for it.
2 questions:
- What is the criterion for talent? After all, there are many who can be rabbis; in my estimation at least 60 percent could be good rabbis who know enough to issue rulings for the public. Should only the exceptionally gifted—those who could write books like Ketzot HaHoshen—go to kollel?
- Seemingly, there is no dispute that the top 10% of the most talented should study. But if so, then who will produce technological inventions for us? Who will sit at the Weizmann Institute? Of course, the question is in the ideal situation in which all the Jewish people observe Torah and commandments… Is it right to determine that everyone should be in kollel, and that “Strangers shall stand and pasture your flocks, and foreigners shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers”?
- If the answer to 2 is that not all of the top 10% need to be in kollel, then what is the criterion for deciding who will be in kollel? If everyone wants to, whom would you refuse?
Answer
I don’t have a criterion. There is common sense. A reasonable number should be set of people with talent and willingness to sit and study over the long term. There are few such people, and people need to be screened just as they are for any role.
Whoever studies in order to serve as a rabbi should not be funded for that. That is professional training. I am speaking about funding for learners, not professional training at the state’s expense.
Talent is not the only parameter, and there is not just one kind of talent. A person may be very talented but have no desire for Torah, or may simply not be suited to Torah and instead be suited to mathematics or physics.