It’s a good point and it’s our fault for missing that. We’ll change it in the future to something that makes it clear that it is anonymous.

I feel much, much better.

Thanks!

Also, I very much like “cloying” as a good translation for “schmaltzy.”

2. To dream of spiritual self-betterment is characteristic of the Jewish people. Sometimes, as this article says, we sell ourselves short by not reaching high enough. Every day is a new opportunity to fix something (including our own awareness of HaShem’s will) with the tools we have. We need to understand and appreciate these tools, then put them to good use.

I just meant that”inspirational” pieces like this often have a tendency to get treacly/cloyingly sweet. Granted, literally, schmaltzy means ‘fatty’ and not ’sweet’ and it is admittedly strange to use it almost as a synonym, but what what both terms really mean in this context is “too much” or “over the top.” CJ did an excellent job in avoiding this potential pitfall.

But yaakov, now it’s my turn:

“unschmaltzy manner”- what does this term mean (beyond literal translation:))?

As with many pieces here this has served for a jumping off point for other issues -which is fine, but alas from the very start of the thread of comments people have ignored or somehow missed the pshat (simple), obvious inspiring message which you presented in a genuine, appealing, and unschmaltzy manner.

BMG = Beth Medrash Govoha, which is the large, famous advanced yeshiva in Lakewood NJ.

Chiyuv to be kovea ittim = personal duty to schedule regular periods of Torah study

Kollel = post-graduate level of (mainly) Talmudic study. The participants are generally married, and they generally receive stipends. Some kollelim are founded to do community outreach in Jewish education, in addition to the study program.

So let me be blunt.

I did not intend for this post to be seen as a pro-kollel pitch. The discussion I had at the ball game and the lessons learned were intended for working people, like myself.

I work full-time. Actually, more than full time, these days. I never saw anything in this post (except for the unfortunate title) as indicating a push for full-time learning. My comment “It’s about promoting spiritual achievement in our learning and our observance of mitzvos. It’s about making sacrifices and dreaming big.” is not an advertisement for kollel. It is a comment aimed at every single Jew to maximize his or her potential in their personal Avodas Hashem.

As it happens, I do support the concept of kollel and have many family members in kollelim. Nonetheless, I personally agree with many of the above comments as to the limits of a kollel “system” and the unfortunate fallout that follows when those limits are not observed.

Perhaps one day I will write about it. But this is not that essay.

I couldnt agree with you more about the need for candid guidance counseling which keeps individaul interests qualities and aptitudes in mind.

I also heartily agree with you that history has been highjacked today and distorted in order to advance social agendas. Those with scanty historical knowledge of what it was really like in the “heim” (aka old country) get hood-winked everyday

I will defer to the author CJ Srullowitz as to the stated purpose of his essay, quote “It’s about promoting spiritual achievement in our learning and our observance of mitzvos. It’s about making sacrifices and dreaming big.”

The human cost of this well intended but overly idealistic and therefore misplaced approach is very high. And, I am not just referring to Lakewood Kollel wives who may be forced out of financial necessity to juggle 2 or 3 jobs on top of trying to raise children and keep a household functioning, or to the children who may be emotional orphans with two living parents.

I am also speaking about the flotsam and jetsam of Kollel men floating around Lakewood who stay in leaning because of frum society’s expectations/demands, but who have no chiyus/joy in their learning and who are confronted daily with their depressing lack of talent, success/achievement in their learning.

These men have been socially acculturated through the yeshiva school system to believe that anyone not learning full time is a loser and a waste of space, and to therefore “dream big”.

Rarely is the message conveyed in the yeshiva school system that G-d assigned each one of us to a unique role in the orchestra of Kiddush H-shem, and that it is part of His grand design for some men to honor Him by playing another instrument in addition to learning Torah.

Yes, every male has a halachic chiyuv to be kovea ittim. But, not every product of the yeshiva school system is cut out for full time Torah learning, nor should full time Torah learning be frum society’s articulated goal for every male.

I think the following story about the Satmar Rov (R. Joel Teitlebaum ztl 1887-1979) makes my point. After the war many survivors did nothing other than learn full time. The Satmar Beis Medrash was bursting at the seams until the day Rebbeinu Yoel ztl with his penetrating gaze apprised the assembled olam and began pointing “You, you, and you! Out of the Beis Medrash and get to work!”. Those who left became the backbone of the Satmar community, the businessmen and askanim that built Satmar in America. Their talents and abilities would never have been given the opportunity to be of service to Klal Yisroel had they stayed in the Beis Medrash learning Torah full time.

CJ Srullowitz advocates for an approach that has already been implemented in Yeshivishe society for decades: Individual talents and abilities are systematically ignored and routinely sacrificed for the “big dream” of full time Torah learning as an occupation. The human cost of this misplaced idealism is often tragic to behold in Lakewood.

When big dreams of spiritual achievement in learning crash upon the shoals of the lack of ability for full time Torah learning the high cost of dreaming too big is depression and dysfunction.