Getting off the conveyor belt

Jonathan Rosenblum recently wrote an article called "Do you know where your boychick is". In the article, Rosenblum discussed the phenomena of American yeshiva boys, who were sent to Israel to immerse themselves in learning, are found getting in trouble at hafganot, and described an atmosphere where there is no supervision over these boys, and they are far from immersing themselves completely in their studies. They are basically taking advantage of no parental, or any other authority, supervision to have a good time.

While Rosenblum does not call directly for a cacellation of the "trend" to send kids to israel, he does call on parents to be more discerning about their children and make more personal decisions, and not just send because everyone else is.

I actually like Rosenblum's article because of the ending. In the various analysis and criticisms I have seen since he wrote it, people have commented a lot on the issue of boys going to Israel and on the style of the yeshivos. but I think Rosenblum was making a bigger point than that. Rosenblum says concluding the article:

The last and most important rule is at the same time the hardest one for parents to fulfill: Know your child. Do not assume that simply because your son has always been a "good boy," who learns well, and does not get into trouble, that you have nothing to worry about. Rabbi David Sapirman, a mechanech in Toronto with forty years experience, writes in a Torah U'mesorah publication, "Why and How to Teach Emunah," of many top notch yeshiva products who "when it comes to emunah . . . neither believe nor disbelieve. He is simply moving along the conveyor belt, which takes him from cradle to kollel. He goes through the motions, and may even be very happy doing so. But his lack of conviction permeates all that he does. These youngsters are as much at risk as the disenchanted, although they may not be aware of it yet. . . . Woe to him, if ever faced with a serious nisayon, like the temptation for something immoral or dishonest. Only real conviction can enable one to withstand temptation, not a robotic life style."

And that is just the point. The time spent learning in Eretz Yisrael, without in many cases adequate supervision or accountability, is filled with many temptations. Before sending one's sons to learn there, parents have to know whether their sons have a real connection to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, whether the image of Yaakov Avinu will confront them in moments of temptation, and whether they are truly filled with aspirations for growth in Torah. Or are they just "good boys," who have never gotten off the conveyor belt. If the latter, caution is advised.

It is more than "don't send them to Israel because they will get into trouble". The reason they are getting into trouble is because they are not really dedicated students. They have been riding a train. They were never taught emunah, bitachon and hashkafa. They were just good kids in yeshiva learning the curriculum and were never actually challenged or taught how to deal with anything but a blatte gemara. They were on a conveyor belt until now.

I think he is completely right on that. I remember from my yeshiva days, and I went to decent yeshivas, that all we did was learn gemara. Variety was a short halacha seder in the morning and a short mussar seder in the evening.

Maybe we were meant to glean the lessons of emunah and hashkafa form the gemara, but we were so interested, or should I say involved, in the pilpul, we never knew to, or how to, glean such lessons just from the gemara itself. Those types of topics were never even considered, let alone anybody having the gall to teach it or to ask about it.

The best guys I know today learning in kollel, are guys who have spent time learning seriously from the mussar seforim and hashkafa/emunah seforim.

The reason why ia m writing about this today is because Hamodia has published a number of Letters to the Editor in response to Rosenblum's article. They all, each and every one, ignore this point of Rosenblums. They all deal with whether boys should or should not go to Israel, each one supporting his position with anecdotal "evidence" based on what happened when they or their kids were in Israel.

They are missing the point that the education is lacking. The education our kids are receiving is not one that will prepare our kids to deal with the challenges they will eventually face. Until what age can a parent baby a child and not let him face challenges? We are talking here about boys from ages ranging from 18-23. And they are not prepared to face a year without their parents.

And when they are sent away, based on all the claims (which I think are exaggerated in scope even though they do happen), obviously the education they have received until that point is then proven to have failed, because at the first point of freedom and self-responsibility, these boys are failing the test.

I am willing to say that even if the solution some of these people want, of stopping the "trend" to automatically send the boys to learn in Israel, is implemented, these boys would get into trouble in New York or wherever else they went instead of Israel. They would not be getting into trouble in hafganot looking for excitement, but they would be getting into trouble by hanging out with girls, maybe dabbling in drugs, movies, pool halls, whatever. If the boy is not taught how to deal with the world, he will get in trouble when he is finally exposed to it. There is a limit to how much of an eye a parent can keep on a 20 year old guy, no matter how far from home he is or how close to home he is.

The real solution is not taking away their cellphones or laptops (which might be good ideas anyway), and it is not stopping to send them to Israel (which also might be right for some of them - parents should be discerning and not just do it because everyone else is), but the yeshivas need to improve the curriculum, and the parents need to prepare their kids to face the real world. The kids need to be taken off the conveyor belt.