[Avodah] The Vilna Gaon and Secular Studies

[Akiva Miller]

.
R' Yitzchok Levine wrote, and I quote his closing last paragraph in full:

> Boys have to be equipped with an education that prepares them
> to earn a living to support a family. How many boys who attend
> a Hassidic yeshiva actually earn a basic high school diploma
> let alone a Regents diploma?

The first and second sentences don't have any logical connection that
I can see. There are plenty of boys who attended a Hassidic yeshiva,
who now earn enough to support a family.

Diplomas are not guarantees, and I'm don't know how much they help.
They certainly don't help as much as drive and persistence and elbow
grease.

My boss, for example, asks me for help occasionally with English
spelling and grammar, but that doesn't seem to have hampered his
ability to own his business at half my age. (His mathematics abilities
are a good example. He understands enough of the concepts that he can
figure out anything on his calculator without my help. But he avoids
doing even simple arithmetic in his head. And because he refuses to do
the arithmetic in his head, I make more mistakes than he does.)

Akiva Miller