Wednesday, February 18, 2009

THE LAZY WAY OUT

There you are, no not there, oy, look to your left, yes there you are learning with your chavrusa. You have been learning with this chavrusa for a very long time, ever since you came to this place many moons ago (no I am not getting sci-fi on you). You both have learned through most of shas, tanach, and shulchan aruch, including most of the mephorshim. You and your chavrusah, are not like most people in the kollel, you actually learn something. You can say that you and your friend are living the kollel dream.

Everyday your schedule is exactly the same: Daven, learn, break, learn, learn, lunch, learn, mincha, learn, learn and learn some more, maariv at 9:00, go home. You basically are in the kollel pumping your way through the pages of Torah all the time. Your chavrusah has the same schedule as you.

Today is no different from your daily schedule. You start out to daven shachris and then go to learn, break, and learn, learn. At one point you are reading a posuk in chumash, in parshas yisro "sheshes yomim tavod". You look up at your chavrusah and say "I don't remember this being in the chumash" Your chavrusah says "no we have had it many times". You ask " Then I don't understand what it means", your learning partner answers "It means 6 days man should work, its simple to understand". You say "I knew what it meant, I don't understand how g-d can say that MAN should work? women work". Your chavrusah is perplexed and claims he never thought about it.

You then proceed to the head of the Rosh Kollel to ask this question, he answers that we men just don't work. This question still bothers you, If g-d said man should work, its a commandment and we have to work, why don't we. You decide that the kollel life is not the right life to live. You tell your chavrusah that you are leaving and that he should join you. He says maybe kollel is work. You quickly ask "isn't it a halacha that a man shall provide food for his wife?" You then say "I am leaving to do g-ds will, I am on a holy mission, call it jihad". Your friend says "If you leave then I wont learn with you". You say "You cant do that, we have been learning together for ages". Your friend then says "Why are you leaving anyway, when you live the kollel life everything becomes so easy for you, your wife does everything". You reply with "your right, why should I leave, it is easy, and if I do leave everyone will think I modern, or not Jewish at all, I am staying".

you end up continuing this system for the rest of your life, day in and day out. You still live with the question why we don't work, but you suppress it with how easy it is to take the lazy way out.

This story may not happen on such a large scale, but there are people out there who take the lazy/easy way out, and they go through life with this philosophy everyday. Basically, many stay in kollel just to get paid for doing nothing and being lazy.

7 people gave their 2 cents:

Ookamikun said...

"Daven, learn, break, learn, learn, lunch, learn, mincha, learn, learn and learn some more, maariv at 9:00, go home."

If only it was so, then at least you could say that they deserve the money. How many of them actually have this schedule?

comfortablynumb said...

I hate to defend something I dont believe in but Im pretty sure nobody is in kollel for the money

SubWife said...

Moshe,
I can't speak for anyone, but many kollel people I know have this schedule. And it is hardly a lazy way out.

CNumb,
You are right. No one is in it for the dough. Pretty much anywhere with a schedule like this you would be making much more.

Anonymous said...

Painted with such a vividly Orwellian touch!

Mikeinmidwood said...

Moshe

I did write these guys are not like the rest.

Comfortably Numb

No they do it so they dont have to work. or to fit into the community.

Talmudist

First I hate Orwell, second your writing is much better than mine so thanks for the compliment(s).

DavenedByDeKoisel said...

Mike: I'm not so sure about the "Moon" thing... Mephorshim ???
The last guy that spelled it like that is in Creedmor in a nice padded cell. ;-)

Mikeinmidwood said...

Davened By De Koisel

Maybe the moon thing is native american. Mephorshim, I dont think you should be commenting on spelling of hebrew word in english "Koisel" (it kotel).