Written By: Tzvi Freedan
Dear Rabbi,
I’m an undergrad at a private
college, doing really well and working hard to get into graduate school. I’m
also very active with Chabad on campus. My Chabad rabbi has been bugging me to
take off one semester to study in a yeshiva “some time before
graduate school.” It’s still not clear to me what yeshiva is all about, and
definitely not clear why I should take off in the middle of my studies to go
there.
—A Student
Dear Student,
Before there were universities, there were yeshivas. There
were people who sat around in yeshivas the whole year, discussing and studying
and discussing some more. And then there were people who worked the farm or
traveled afar to sell their merchandise, and then turned up at the yeshiva
whenever they had a chance, to join in the study and discussion. Jews were
always a literate society, and every Jew was expected to be involved somehow in
the learning going on in the community.
Traditionally, most of the study in yeshiva was in pairs—two
companions poring over a text together, debating its details to achieve clarity
and full knowledge. A lecture is generally full of lively give-and-take between
students and teacher.Traditional Jewish learning is all about asking good
questions, as well as collaborating with others to come up with solutions.
That’s why a yeshiva, unlike a college library, is a rather noisy
place. In many ways, the methodology of study in yeshiva is way ahead of that
applied in most educational institutions.
Today, there are all sorts of yeshivas. Some specialize exclusively
in Talmud. Others diversify, studying practical Jewish law, history, ethics, Kabbalah and chassidic thought, etc. There
are yeshivas dedicated to young men and women such as yourself, who just want
to take off a semester to enrich their Jewish souls, and then get back home and
finish their degree.
Chabad has a number of such yeshivas, and that’s the general
thrust in these places—to give students a strong background, skills to build
upon and the inspiration they need for a lifetime—and then get them back on
track into their careers. Only that now, the bright lights of their Jewish soul are shining.
Now that I hope I’ve given you some vague idea of what a yeshiva
is, let me provide you with 5 reasons why you should attend:
1. It's an Investment
This could be the biggest investment you’ll ever make.
You’re bright enough to know that your future’s not made of money
alone. The biggest investment you’ll ever make in your life is the person
you’ll marry. Out of marriage comes a home, a family, eternity. You need to
build a portfolio that can get you a great spouse and build a beautiful family.
Add those yeshiva months to your portfolio, and you’ve moved up several notches
on the Jewish marriage market.
2. You'll Gain Skills
You can pick up the basic skills for a lifetime.
One semester isn’t enough time to learn one-zillionth of what you
want to know, but it’s long enough to get you some basic skills so you can
continue back home.
You’ll learn what books contain what, how to open a Talmud and get
an idea of what’s flying in there, what sort of problems require an expert
rabbi to solve, and how to dazzle your guests with some fascinating words
of Torah at your Shabbat table.
You’ll have some of the classic answers to fundamental questions under your
belt, and you’ll know where to look for more.
Perhaps even more important: You’ll have the tools, the learning
and perhaps even the wisdom to help you get through those bumps and crashes so
unavoidable in life.
3. You Plan to Start a
Family
Get respect from your kids.
You may not have even started thinking about it, but you
likely will want to send your kids to a school where they’ll learn Torah part
of the day. When they have a question or need help with homework, guess who
they’re going to ask? And if they see their parents enjoy learning Torah, guess
how that will influence their attitude to school?
4. It's Your Wealth
Cash in on your inheritance.
Jews have been bantering about ideas in yeshivas for thousands of
years. And Jews are bright people.
Over these millennia of study, debate, creativity and more debate,
we’ve built a ginormous structure, a palace of wisdom, ideas, practical
guidance and approaches to knowledge. It’s a magnificent blend of harmonies,
an intricate web of wisdom, an edifice of incomparable beauty—and the entire
estate is yours, just waiting for you to come and pick up the keys.
Without ever entering a yeshiva, you could still enter your estate.
You might make it into the front, and even explore around a little. But if you
want to feel at home in your rightful home, you need that immersive yeshiva
experience.
5. You'll Get
Inspiration:
Get the blast of a lifetime.
Imagine yourself in an environment where everyone around you is
aflame with the fire of Torah. Torah is alive. You can dissect an animal, a
philosopher, a poem or a book, an atomic particle or a mathematical
equation—and all have one thing in common: when dissected, they are dead.
No one comes out of a philosophy class singing and dancing. But
they do when they dissect Torah. Because Torah is alive—every cell of
it, no matter how you cut it.
Imagine Shabbat in an environment where Torah is the driving
force of life. You can’t. You have to be there. But years down the road, when
you’re desperate for that inspiration to keep you going, you’ll close your eyes
and see yourself back there again. From that experience you’ll draw eternal
life.
