41: Vacation on Wall Street

Hi, this is Dovid Orlofsky and welcome to the Rabbi Orlofsky Show! And it's so nice to have you along whether you are watching on Torah Anytime or wherever you listen or watch your podcasts it's so nice to have you with us for this journey. This is episode 41. Gadzooks! And this one is sponsored refuah shelaima Bayla Yehudis bas Sara Chana for a refuah shelaima and levavdil bain chaim l'chaim, l'ilui nishmas Elisheva bas Harav Binyamin so the sick should have a refuah shelaima and the neshama should have an aliya and the sponsor who wishes personally to remain anonymous Should have hatzlacha and bracha for being marbitz Torah in Klal Yisroel in really the most unique way I know I'm You know I am Dramatically inconsistent because I always point out that this is not a shiur. This is a show but I wanna tell you a story I don't know if I ever told this When I was in Ohr Sameach so one of my talmidim was asked to be in the Purim play and He said to me should I be in the Purim play? It's gonna take away time for my learning. And I said I can't think of few things at a yeshiva That are as important as the Purim play, done well. It creates such achdus, it brings people together, tt gives across so many important messages and Mutty Berger once said, you know the big problem with Judaism is that everybody goes to shul on Yom Kippur instead of on Purim. So we get this get this jaded perspective of Judaism. This woman comes to the rabbi and says, I'm not coming to show anymore. Every time I come it's the same thing - Ne'ilah. You know, so if all you see is a fast day, if all you ever see is Tisha B'av, that's all you get to see you're never gonna get a perspective. I watch the podcast myself because you know, there's a principle in halacha, you know, kol shepolait aino bolaya. So while I'm talking I can't listen I'm busy talking and afterwards I watch it and I'm always so amazed by the tremendous high quality, first of all, of the production (that goes to my producer) but of the content (that goes to me) and Not just and I have to tell you I'm a terrible listener. There's sometimes when I speak and people say to me, "Thank you so much" and I say no, thank YOU, because I've spoken and I've listened and listening is much harder than speaking. Trust me, I'm a terrible listener. You know, to sit through a drasha I often will find it difficult and that's why one of the warmest approbations I have ever received (and for those of you don't know, an approbation is a haskama) is when parents tell me, "I have kids who aren't interested in learning, sometimes these are kids off the derech, but they love listening to your recordings because it's so much fun." And that to me is the goal. It's got to be fun I may have told the story. Rav Bullman zatzal. I was speaking once and afterwards he came over to me and he says. "You don't fool me. You're just an old Slabodka mussarnik. I remember the originals. They get up there. They tell the jokes. They work the crowd. They carry on. They tell some stories and then they hit you it with this really hard mussar." He says, "Don't worry. I'm on to you." I said, "Rabbi Bulman, that's the nicest thing anyone ever said to me." But that's the truth. The truth is that if we could have a good time.. I give a Motzai Shabbos shiur From basically Parshas Beraishis through Purim, in Har Nof every other Motzai Shabbos, when I'm in the country and more than once people said to me, "I come to the shuir cuz it's the only place that I can come to and feel good that I'm a frum Jew." Everyplace else I'm getting beaten up on. Lehavdil there was a guy back in Europe, he was reading Der Shturmer. He says "How could you read that trash? I don't know if it was Der Shturmer or some other anti-semitic paper mistama it was a different anti-semitic paper because that had inappropriate drawings in it, some other anti-Semitic paper. How could you read that? Trash? He says, what do you mean? I love it! He says "Why?" He says, "Whenever I read the frum newspaper, everything's falling apart and the world is terrible, and everything's terrible and the Jews are in trouble. When I read these, we're rich, we run the world we're the most important people in the world. I love reading anti-Semitic papers." Lehavdil, if somebody watches this and walks away and says, "Wow, this is the best. Dus iz de beste zach!" That's really what we're shooting for. So thank you for coming along for this ride and you know, whatever you get out of it and that's why it's a tremendous yasher koach to our sponsors who make this possible to bring this combination of Torah and a celebration of being Jewish. Wow, that sounds so profound. Give me a moment just to reflect on my own brilliance. Gosh. Anyway, sometimes I wish I had been born somebody else so I could have spent my life listening to me. That's a joke. It's a joke. Baal Gaiva is a to'aivah. People who are egotists, I hate those people. They make me so angry. People without midos make me so angry. Anyway So what are we talking about? So we're in the post-Shavuos session. You know that like, when all you have to look forward to is Shiva Assar B'Tamuz and the Three Weeks, that's a little downer time So I've been trying to focus in these podcasts afterwards speaking about Torah. Torah! Torah! There's a story with this yeshiva bochur from America. He wanted t o stay and learn. I'm leaving out a lot of the details on purpose because I don't know how much everybody wants this to be mefarsaim and the people involved... His parents want him to go back and go to college. So he went to speak to a gadol b'Yisroel. He says, "How could you be such a selfish, bad child?" "I'm making my parents happy. I'm doing what they want." He says, "Do you know the medrash tells us the reward that Terach got in Gan Eden because Avraham sat and learnt Torah and brought Torah to the world? Was that what Terach wanted for him? No. No. But in the Olam Ha'emes, when he saw what was waiting for him.... Do you realize the schar that's waiting for your parents up in Olam Haba because you're learning Torah? And you want to deny them that because you're so selfish and don't want to feel like a bad kid? A little counter-intuitive there, but it's an important thing. You know, you sometimes don't realize what it is that you really want until you get a perspective. So so Torah? Torah is just... As the song says, it's the 'beste zach'. Yeah, it's it's something that's so unbelievable. So I want to spend this particular podcast not talking about Torah. Talking about issues. Social issues. I told somebody what I was going to talk about in this podcast and they say, "Why?" "You're not gonna change anything/" And that is more than likely true. More than likely true. in case you haven't picked it up, and it's so interesting because I always said anyone's invited to be part of the studio audience and I've gotten emails from people who say, "We want to be part of the studio audience. We live in Eretz Yisrael, We're coming to visit. What do we do?" And I sent him all the details and I never hear from him again. So they really come part of it. So for most of these podcasts, it's just me sitting in my living room, you know, talking to myself. Those of you who have teenagers I'm sure you're familiar with the experience. And so, sometimes when we're talking to ourselves that itself is important. Reb Noach Weinberg used to say, "It's hard to stay sane in an insane world, when everybody's crazy." Now, I'm not saying what I'm going to say today is correct. I'm not in charge of anything. Not in charge. I have no position. I have no authority. People said to me, why doesn't... why don't you do this? Why don't you speak about it? Who am I? Nobody cares what I have to say. Nobody's calling me up in a position of authority saying, "What should we do?" It was one time that somebody associated with a major balabus who was involved in a lot of Torah activities said they wanted to meet with me to get my input and I brushed them off and never heard from them again. Because I didn't really believe anybody really cares what I have to say. Yeah, so That's one of the reasons I started this podcast. So I have a chance at, you know, I'll speak at least for myself to help crystallize issues that I think are important and What I want to speak about today is the educational system. The gemara says that Reb Shimon ben Shetach organized an educational system in Klal Yisroel so that every kid would be able to get an education. and Reb Moshe Shapiro once said, "What happened before that? Before that. Everybody's parents toward their children. You taught your children. Ahhy, people worked? Okay, so come out with me out to the field, and we'll work and we'll talk and we'll discuss and while we're harvesting, while we're planting, while we're plowing whatever we're doing we can still talk. I used to have people want to come and speak to me and I'd do it on Friday and they'd come and I'd be doing sponga. or I'd be cooking or I'll be doing whatever. I can multitask at that point. So, I'm not so worried about that. But it's a natural thing, once you create a school with standards... I remember two weeks ago, when Rabbi Gransoky was here. And I said, "What is your definition of success for a bochur in Ohr Dovid?" And he said. "Depends on the kid." Well, it's a brilliant answer and it's true. But in the era of standardized tests, where everybody is measured by one standard, this one finish line... Says the Mesilas Yeshorim in the first perek, "Ma Chovaso B'olamo". What is your obligation in YOUR world? Everybody has unique talents and abilities and as such they have unique expectations. I can't expect the same thing from everybody and nor should I. So yeah, everybody has to have it it's almost impossible. I spoke at a school recently on exactly this point and the teacher said, "But, okay, you got 30 kids the class, yeah, so you have some at the top you have some at the bottom and a parabolic curve, you know, most of the people in the middle. How do you deal with all these kids in a school setting? It's a tremendous challenge. I love it. I think I spoke about this in an earlier podcast... What I actually said... But the idea is that, yeah, there's a challenge and the school system is is something that you know, was set up with a certain thing. Now, I have this expression that I use all the time, "Everyone does what everyone does 'cuz that's what everyone does." Now I've always said this. I've said this for years. I've said in different ways, but that's my phrase of choice these days. Everyone does what everyone does 'cuz that's what everyone does. That's just the way it is. "Why are you going to that yeshiva?" "Everybody's going." "Why are you doing this?" "That's what everybody does." Everybody does what everybody does. And to stop and think, "Should I do this? Is this a good idea? Should I change? Ehh.." So I don't mind if you decide to weigh the different options and conclude that this is the best way to go. But are you doing it just because everybody else does it or because you sat down and decided that this was the best thing? An idea. So I want to focus on one aspect of our current educational system and I'm going to do it backwards. The Gemara says Rabbi Akiva used to give off two days a year. Erev Pesach and Erev Yom Kippur. Erev Yom Kippur so that everyone could eat, And Erev Pesach so that people could get a nap and stay up for the seder. So that means that they had yeshiva 363 days a year. There is a yeshiva in Yerushalayim that does that. They have yeshiva every single day. They have school every day. I'm talking about elementary school. I'm not talking about yeshiva gedolah. Every single day. Now, when I was in education, They used to speak about how September had to be spent undoing the Summer. Because everyone stops learning for two months. Sometimes it's longer. But, they stopped learning for two months. Now they come back in September, they have an open ending books and you have to review with them, get them back into it, math, science and al achas kamma v'kamma, Torah, halacha, all the kind of things that they've let slide away and what's the reason that we have these two months off in the Summer? It wasn't always that way. Let's let's take a step further More closer to home. Once in a yeshiva ketana and yeshiva gedola... and let me just take a moment to step on my soapbox and rant. In America you have what's called junior high school, high school, and then university. Presumably the university experience is supposed to be dramatically different than your high school experience. Here we have cheder then yeshiva ketan and yeshiva gedola. Yeshiva ketana is a small yeshiva The people are smaller they're wearing smaller hats, smaller jackets. They have a little shorter, the sedorim are a little shorter, but essentially it's the same exact thing as yeshiva gedolah, only smaller. And then you go to yeshiva gedolah. Is there any thought to what a bochur needs to develop himself during those high school years? And is the yeshiva ketana system designed to develop a kid in that system? Okay, so... The answer is," Yeah, but that's how we've always done it. That's how we've always done it." 'Cuz we always do what we always did 'cuz that's how we always do it. I know situations where things are not working. I spoke about this my podcast when I spoke about tznius, which happens to be our second most popular episode and I spoke with an educator because I got in trouble because I speak very directly about why the girls should dress tzanua. They say, "We don't speak about that. It's called the sod of tznius. It's a secret." I said, "But your method isn't working." And eventually, she agreed with me and she says," You're right. Our method isn't working. But that's the way we do it." See, the thing about Reb Shimon ben Shetach is when he saw that the method that was in current existence wasn't working, he changed it. When whatever we're working with isn't working then we have to sit down and rethink the model from start and say, "What's the best way? 'What's the best way' not 'How has it been?" Unfortunately, the Jewish people traditionally have been reactionary, when something happens we react to it. We're not usually proactive. We don't sit down and think, what's the best way to do this? We wait till there's a problem and then we attack it. We, we're losing frum girls because there was no girls' educational system until a seamstress in Krakow came up with this 'chap'. Hey, maybe we should make schools for girls. I Ahhy, we never did it before. Okay, but there's a problem. So we look to see there's a problem, we got to do something. We have to address that problem. Why are there two months off in there in the summer? Why? Okay, so you could argue, summer camps. There's a tremendous advantage of summer camp experience. I'm not here to debate that. I spoke to a fellow who runs a seminary in Eretz Yisroel and he says, "When I go to recruit and I ask the girls, 'Where are your friends from?' invariably they say, 'From camp.'" Meaning, I spend 10 months a year with the girls in my school and I have not made any real kesharim. I go to camp for two months and suddenly I'm making kesharim. I think that says something about our schools, if we're not able to to create some kind of a relationship between the students. At 10 months a year, I'm just biding my time for my two months and summer camp? Rav Pincus tells the story that he was in charge of placing the boys. There are some places where they would sleep in some places where they would eat So he says it doesn't matter where they sleep because they're just gonna go in and go to sleep. He says the said rosh yeshiva. But by the meals they're gonna talk and learning, have a chevrashaft. And I looked at him and said, "No, nobody cares about the meals, they're just gonna eat and leave. But when you sleep, you want to make sure you're sleeping with somebody, you know, in the same room that you like, you get along with." He says, "And we looked at each other like we were both crazy." What's the what's the ultimate goal? What are we trying to accomplish? So let's move up to yeshiva ketana and yeshiva gedolah. We have off for the entire month of Nisan Once upon a time, I understand. You were learning in the yeshiva. You're travel back to your home I'm talking about before there were trains. You have to appreciate this. It means you got into a Horse and carriage or you walked until you arrived at your destination. I read a biography once about Peter the Great and it discussed how he traveled all of Europe and they spend a little time explaining what these broken rutted roads were like and the wagon would go in a hole and a wheel would break. How difficult it was to travel. Okay, took you time to get there, spent Pesach, it took you time to get back, so you need a month off. Today? And let's be honest. I know many yeshivas where the guys leave already after Purim. So, six weeks? Six weeks? So you can go home for Pesach? You have off three weeks for Sukkos. I understand giving off for Sukkos. You wanna spend time with your family, you know, you have another two weeks? Doing what? Why am I out of yeshiva? They used to give off in Av because it was so hot, you just couldn't learn. Where isn't there air conditioning today? So I have to give you off three weeks in the summer? And what goes on during those three weeks? For what? "Everybody needs a break. Everybody needs a break. Everybody needs a vacation." So I have a fellow that I knew who was learning here in kollel and I finished my chores early, so my wife says to me, "why don't you go and learn?" Ah! A luxury. So I'm sitting the bais medrash, and I did this a number of weeks and I see there's this one avreich, and he's there before I get there and he's there after I leave. So finally I said to him, "Your wife doesn't mind?" And he looked at me like I was out of my mind. He says, "I have friends who work in Manhattan. They get up early in the morning. They take the train into Manhattan, they work until the last possible time that they can they, get the last train that they can, they come home they take a shower and they run off to shul. I had a friend, his father ran a takeout place in Brooklyn. Says he worked 'til the last possible time, cleaned up, came home, took a quick shower, ran off to shul. He spent the whole Shabbos is smelling like, you know, barbecued chicken." He says, "If I'm learning, that's my profession. Why am I getting off Friday afternoon? Why isn't that working time? So people work Get this get this clear. They get up early in the morning. They work a whole day. They come back at night, I'm talking about a good balabus, and then they first sit and learn. So mamish yomam valaila. So who needs a vacation? Sure. They're entitled to two weeks vacation. In a year, two weeks vacation. You know when they take it? Pesach and Sukkos. Because they know if they take off any other day, they're not gonna get paid. The guy told me it was my brother's Bar Mitzvah, so my mother calls me, I should come in and help set up. I said, "Well, you know, I'm in yeshiva. What about Yankel?" "Yankel works." "Yankel can't take off." So how important is learning Torah to us? Now does that mean we should do away with, you know, all the bain hazmanin, and all the vacations and all of this? I'm in the advantage. I can just kvetch. I don't have to I don't have to solve any the problems. All I do is share my observations and wherever they go, however, they're done, if anybody out there is listening who actually is in charge of something and I have piqued your interest and maybe this is something that we should consider. And that's it for this week. If you want to find out more about the podcast, please go to RabbiOrlofsky.com/podcast. If you want to find out about this particular podcast, go to RabbiOrlofsky.com/podcast/41 If you want to find about upcoming events, go to RabbiOrlofsky.com/events If you want to contact Rabbi Orlofsky, i go to RabbiOrlofsky.com/contact. if you want to sponsor an episode, go to RabbiOrlofsky.com/podcast and click on the sponsor an episode button. I am Dovid Orlofsky. This is the Rabbi Orlofsky Show.