Rav Shteinman's Bet Shemesh Speech Makes Waves

The news sites are quoting Rav Shteinman out of context from his speech last week in Bet Shemesh about the importance of Torah learning and whipping up a frenzy over a quote from within. Rav Shteinman did actually say what he is being quoted as having said, but I still felt that putting it back into context would do the statement a little bit of justice. I too was surprised when I read it, even in context, but I don't think it was meant the way it was quoted - that was not the point of what he was saying.

I am translating from a long text, so I might skip less interesting parts.. If I skip, it will be noted with a [...].

To preface it with one more thought, I found the point Rav Shteinman was making to be fairly clear, but once again Rav Shteinman said what he wanted to without saying it explicitly. He seems to prefer to leave his words with a bit of ambiguity, leaving it open to the listeners interpretation, to a certain extent.

And one more point, I find his point to be very strange. He seems to be thinking that the choices being considered are between either yeshiva [ketana] or public school with no torah learning. From his words, the way he encourages the learning of torah and sending boys to yeshiva, sounds, to me, like he thinks the other option is public school with no torah rather than a yeshiva with a little bit of secular studies (or limudei chochma, a term I like that was recently posted in the comments here)..

Anyways, here is the speech by Rav Shteinman. Mistakes in translation are mine alone:

Morai V'Rabosai. You know that Hashem created the world, as it says breishis bara elokim.. and Rashi says right there that it was created for the Torah that is called "reishis", and for the Jews who are called "reishis". This means that the entire purpose of the creation is only for torah and for the Jewish nation. And after that at the time of the giving of the torah  it says in the gemara that Hashem said if Israel will accept the torah, good, but if not there will be its burial place. Meaning, the entire creation was just for the Torah.
Really we see all the earlier generations until the giving of the torah, the generations that did not yet have the torah, were very not good. First of all in the 3rd generation of creation by Enosh they already began worshiping idols. Immediately! The third generation they already thought about idol worship!
Comes along the sea and wipes out a third of the world. Today the world isn't so big, a third is covered by the sea, only a small amount of dry land is left. People dont live in the sea, people live on dry land, and the dry land was minimized by a third. Why? because they sinned with idol worship. As well, all the generations after that, until the Flood came along and covered the entire world. There is an argument if the Flood was also in the land of Israel or not, but the rest of the world was wiped out - man, animals, and many inanimate objects. Everything was wiped out. Why? because they didnt behave the way Hashem wanted.
After the flood one could think everything is ok. No! Even after the flood there was Sodom and Gemorrah, Admah and Tzvoyim, and it says in Yechezkal that this was the sin of Sodom that they didnt support the poor. And for that Hashem overturned Sodom. We see all the generations were not good.
Until Avraham came along and changed things, first against the idols, all the getchkes - the idols, the entire world was full of idols, and Nimrod was the kind in that country commanded the throw Avraham into the furnace. The furnace was burning hot that even the people that wanted to throw him in got burned up even though they didnt go in. But Avraham lived, as Hashem did a miracle for him. And why was there a miracle?Because he gave himself up for Hashem, and even though Nimrod the wicked one commanded to throw him in the fire, hashem saved him. But the main thing is that he was the epitome of chessed- just like they did not support the poor, Avraham was the exact opposite and could not live without chessed. And after he was circumcised, at 99 years old he circumcised himself, on the third day after, Hashem did not want to bother him with guests...
[...]
The purpose of creation is for the torah! As long as there was no Torah, there were all sorts of no good things, until Avraham came. From Avraham began the spark of what began the Torah, Avraham then Yitzchak and Yaakov, Yosef and the Tribes. but without torah the world could not exist. And it was a great chessed that 26 generations until the torah was given, in the merit of chessed, because they waited for the torah. But without torah there is no world! So the purpose of the world, one must know, is the torah.
And today they say there are 8 billion people in the world. And what are they all? murderers and thieves, people without seichel .. but for whom is the purpose of the world? did Hashem create it for these murderers, for those evil people? Only for the tzadikim, those who learn torah, people who learn and keep torah. that is the purpose of the creation.
Hashem is satisfied with a little bit. Even put up against the 8 billion people is just a little bit of torah - first of all, only Jews learn torah, and even among the jews we have not merited that all the Jews will learn torah. But, baruch hashem there is a portion that learns torah, and fulfills the torah and Hashem is satisfied with that little bit. [...]
If so, a person needs to know if he wants to continue the generations he has to continue only through torah. Without torah, there is no continuation. God forbid, the countries with no torah, oy vavoy, the generations that assimilated with the gentiles, only torah survives and in that we have to strengthen ourselves.
I saw in the name of the Chafetz Chaim that he says, a person invests many years of his life to acquire a trade or position. Why does he do it for so many years? Because he wants to be able to support himself for his entire life. How long does a person live? 70, 80, 90 years. 100 years! Who already lives 100 years, maybe one or two or three people. Who lives so long? And that is it. and for that one has to give so many years in order to live, and without that it is impossible. If so, how much one must do for the everlasting (the torah)! A person does not need to live just 100 years.. he can live for eternity! The life of a person is not here in this world... in order to live everlasting life a person has to work his entire life to create the everlasting life, and what is the everlasting life? torah and mitzvos, and nothing else. From learning math and from geography one does not achieve everlasting life, only from torah and chessed. and that everyone needs to know.
The Chayei Adam writes in one of his books that when he was young the parents did not think about what the child would be later, from what he would earn his living. They only thought about the torah. So the Chayei Adam writes. And today everyone thinks about what will be, and thinks that only by learning other things will he later have parnassa, and without it there will not be parnassa, and how does the father himself have parnassa, even without having learned it? The answer is that Hashem gives everyone his sustenance, you just need a little bitachon.
Bu tone must know the main thing, for which bitachon does not help - to be a talmid chacham bitachon is irrelevant. One cannot just have bitachon and become a talmid chacham. If he does not learn torah, he will not be a talmid chacham. One who does not learn torah, will not do the mitzvos.  and if he does not learn torah, that is a destruction, a destruction of him and of the world! And for that we must try to achieve, to see all our kids, all our generations, to  bring the son in to learn torah, and then he will be happy. The fortune is not other things, only torah and chessed. Also chessed must be done, but torah is the main thing.
Hashem will help that everyone who wants to see nachas from his kids, will see them learn torah. without torah the son will be an ignoramus and he also wont get nachas from him! Even if he has money, is that the purpose? Money! can you take money to the grave? There is no such thing! What si there in the grave? torah, torah and mitzvos are there, and that is what a person must be concerned about. The main thing iif one wants to worry about his children that they should not have bad, he should see that they should learn torah and then he will have good... otherwise..
And with parnassa Hashem helps. Most of the time the richest people specifically are not people of such great education. Why? because that is not the main thing. It depends on Hashem supporting all His creations. The mian thing si that a Jew should learn torah...Klal Yisrael are connected to the roah. The gentiles have no connection to the torah. the nations of the world dont have anything, not security, not good deeds, and whatever klal yisrael has is only with the torah.
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