Thank you very much.

Let me sharpen it a bit more: the boy is not really in a situation where you can sit him down for a whole day in front of a book because of ideas about cleaving to God (Nefesh HaChaim), and neither am I. It seems to me that ideas like that add motivation, but you cannot sit in the study hall all day because of them (unless you are someone in the style of Yesod VeShoresh HaAvodah).

As for learning skills, his aspiration is not to acquire learning skills; he does not intend to become a halakhic decisor, nor a mathematics lecturer.

The bit about the Mishnah Berurah was a bad example on my part. He is willing to study the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) for an hour a day, and direct practical questions to a halakhic decisor. In short, it is not that he has a theory that it is enough to study the Mishnah Berurah in order to become a Torah scholar; he can understand the need to base knowledge on the Talmud.

He asks: how am I different from my father? If my father is not built to learn all day in kollel, and therefore goes out to work and fulfills the commandment of Torah study by learning for an hour a day, why can’t I behave like him? Because I’m 15?

Regarding an alternative institution, it is not really feasible. The boy himself also does not want to do such a thing; it does not suit him, it does not speak to him, and he does not have even the minimal skills to be accepted to such a place (he does not know the ABCs). He has made peace with the possibility that he will sit in yeshiva until his marriage in three years, and afterward work at a job that does not require studies at too high a level.

The starting point is: since in any case he has nothing better to do in the next three years, why should he not invest them in studying Talmud? He understands that. Still, we are looking for a more precise definition of what he gains from such an investment: development of thinking skills? development of patience and perseverance? connection to tradition and the chain of generations? a better match for marriage? (…) What goal is he supposed to aim for?

Of course the question also comes up because learning is hard for him; if he enjoyed it, he would not be asking why.

Thank you very much

In my opinion there is no difference between studying the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and Talmud, since the Talmud itself explains the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) in one way or another. Everything is hard at first; if he gives up on everything difficult, where will he get to…? Indeed, a person should study what he connects to; that is his root. But if he does not study the Mishnah Berurah, how will he know Jewish law? In summary, let him study what he loves and connects to, but he should also make an effort to study things that are difficult for him part of the time. That is דווקא the interesting and challenging part—to "eat" the difficult thing and overcome it. In today’s terms, "to break the record." And that requires effort. He gains a tremendous amount from such an investment—first of all, he will not turn out soft.

There is no problem with his studying the Mishnah Berurah for an hour a day. At root, the question is a babysitting question (how does he survive another three years until he reaches marriageable age? At 18 he will get married?). So I do not see how explanations can help here. The learning does not speak to him and he finds no taste in it. So if I explain to him that he is connecting to the chain of generations and that it develops his learning abilities, that will make him sit down? That sounds strange and unconvincing to me.
I actually would try to get him to complete secular studies and try to advance on that plane. Why sentence him to a whole life as a shopkeeper or some other boring occupation? If it is already clear that he is not remaining in Torah study, then let him invest and advance in an orderly way in another direction. We are talking about his whole life, and because of these three years of babysitting his entire future will get screwed up? I am really against that.