A wide-ranging panel addressing issues at the forefront of the yeshiva world was held during the Chanukah mesibah at Yeshivas Kiryat Melech in Bnei Brak. The discussion featured Rav Yisroel Meir Weissenstern posing questions from the talmidim to the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Shlomo Kanievsky, on topics including concerns over the draft, the growing trend of bochurim leaving yeshiva for Shabbos, and whether yeshivos should prepare talmidim to become observant baalei batim.
Question:
A bochur asks: With all the uncertainty surrounding the draft — whether arrests will take place, whether laws will pass or not — is there real reason for a ben Torah to be afraid? Some bochurim view the situation lightly, but others, and their parents, are genuinely worried. How should we relate to this entire issue and to the lack of clarity surrounding it?
Answer – Rav Shlomo Kanievsky:
This is a question that people are already tired of discussing — it has been ground over for months.
The truth is that the situation has not fundamentally changed since galus began, from the time the Torah was given until today. Jews were always hated, and wherever they could, they caused us trouble. From the founding of the state, there were attempts to uproot Torah — we all know the stories of the children brought from Yemen, from Tehran, from other places, and the efforts to secularize them. That has always been the approach, and it has not changed. There may have been quiet understandings at times, but the essence never changed. So there is no new reason to be afraid.
As for prison — of course prison is not pleasant. Anyone who tells you it’s not a big deal is wrong; it can be very difficult. But people don’t live their lives constantly afraid of prison for all sorts of actions. All the more so here. Bochurim should sit and learn calmly, without panic.
There are three things to avoid: not getting a driver’s license, not traveling abroad, and not going to the police. Beyond that, one can sit and learn peacefully, daven properly, and live as a good Jew should.
Question:
Shabbos in yeshiva is challenging for many bochurim. There is a growing phenomenon of bochurim going home or eating by host families on Friday night or Shabbos day. Some miss home; others find Shabbos in yeshiva difficult. Can the Rosh Yeshiva speak about the importance of continuity and remaining in yeshiva for Shabbos?
Answer – Rav Shlomo Kanievsky:
This question really has two parts, and they are not the same.
The first question is about a bochur leaving yeshiva entirely for Shabbos. On this we have spoken so much already that our throats are dry, but it must be repeated. A bochur who goes home for Shabbos loses retzef — continuity. Even missing one week breaks the flow.
We saw something frightening during the corona period. Bochurim were not necessarily in bad environments; they were in good homes. But they were not in a framework. And because they were not in a framework, we lost a tremendous number of bochurim from the yeshiva world. I don’t think anyone even knows how many. The absence of a misgeres alone caused spiritual collapse.
A bochur at this age must be in a greenhouse, a yeshiva environment. Whether he is strong or weak makes no difference. Chazal say, “Lehevei tzavsa lechavrei.” Even if he is not learning much, he is carried along by the environment. Once he leaves the greenhouse — no matter where he goes — he is alone. And once he is alone, it is a different story entirely.
Even if a bochur’s home is the home of great people, it does not change this reality. A person is influenced by his surroundings. That is human nature.
Therefore, until marriage, a bochur should be in yeshiva as much as possible — during the week and on Shabbos. This does not mean he can never go home, but the effort should be to stay in yeshiva as much as possible.
Question:
What about eating Shabbos meals by host families?
Answer – Rav Shlomo Kanievsky:
This is a more complicated question.
In earlier generations, when we learned in Ponovezh, Shabbos meals were very simple. You ate, bentched, and left. No zemiros, no program — nothing. The focus was only on learning. Even Shabbos did not change that, other than slightly longer tefillos.
Today the generations have changed. A bochur needs warmth. He needs some atmosphere — what was once called a tish, today maybe a zitz. The name doesn’t matter; the idea is the same. Because of this, yeshivos today sing zemiros and say divrei Torah at the meals. There is no choice; it is necessary.
As for eating meals outside the yeshiva, I cannot give guidance. In my own home, my father wanted all the children to eat at home every Shabbos, no matter where they learned. I don’t know if that was guidance for everyone or only for his household. Therefore, I refrain from expressing an opinion. But one thing is clear: a bochur must be in yeshiva for Shabbos. The yeshiva protects him from the street.
Question:
There are bochurim who will not remain full-time learners after marriage. Why doesn’t the yeshiva provide tools for becoming a Torah-true baal habayis — how to conduct business properly, give maaser, and set aside fixed times for learning?
Answer – Rav Shlomo Kanievsky:
The yeshiva educates everyone how a Jew must live according to the Torah. That is our chinuch.
The yeshiva does not dictate what a bochur must do after marriage. But a bochur who already plans, while still in yeshiva, to leave learning — his place is not here. That is not why the yeshiva was established.
We educate every talmid to aspire to be like Moshe Rabbeinu — to be great in Torah and yirah. Even if circumstances later require a person to work, his foundation must be that of a ben Torah. And if he is fortunate, at some point he will always be thinking: when can I return to learning?
We have seen many such people — they worked for decades, and when they retired, they returned to kollel and learned with young avreichim as if nothing had changed. That was because the yeshiva implanted in them that the main thing in life is to sit and learn.
A Jew must always aspire to be a ben Torah. Even a baal habayis must aspire to be a ben Torah. That is the kind of baal habayis we educate.
{Matzav.com}
