[Avodah] Are We Trying to Grow?

[Prof. Levine]

At 08:31 PM 4/12/2021, Akiva Miller wrote:

>Similar (perhaps identical) complaints are often raised by schoolchildren.
>And yet we continue to send our children to school, despite their protests,
>because they need the input in order to grow, whether they can appreciate
>it right now or not.

One does not hear such complaints from children who have good, 
qualified teachers. If the instructor is interesting and knows who to 
present material, the children will look forward to going to school.

R Akiva Miller:

>Yes, rabbis (and teachers) have wide ranges of speaking ability, and of
>communication effectiveness. And they have varying styles and favorite
>topics, just as the audience is more or less interested in different
>things. If someone wants to choose a different shul where he can get more
>out of it, that's great. But to deliberately choose a place where they can
>escape this hashpa'ah entirely? I fear that too many people are simply
>trying to avoid the hard work of trying to grow.

I find the use of the word "grow"  surprising.  My lawn grows,  yet 
it has to be cut down regularly.  If I am not underweight and my 
waistline grows, this is not a plus.
I think better terminology would be to improve positively in Torah 
observance and learning.

Let me give you a concrete example of a Rov who clearly raised the 
level of observance and Torah learning of his baalei batim, and how he did it.

When he first became the rabbi of his shul, he consciously tried to 
drive away anyone who would not follow his approach to Yahadus.  When 
he saw women whose necklines were too low,  he publicly said in shul, 
"Ladies, cover your utters!"  He was staunchly anti-Zionistic and 
made this clear time and time again. He made it clear that married 
women have to cover their hair.   Those who did not like his views 
and approach to Yahadus left.  From the core that remained he built a 
dynamic Torah shul.

He began learning with a group of men who had very limited Torah 
backgrounds. One of them told me that at the very start he would have 
them write the nekudos in the text so that they would pronounce the 
words properly.  The fellow who told me this eventually learned 
through Shas many times.

His congregation truly had positive improvement in Torah observance 
and learning.

How many rabbis will have the courage to strongly speak out 
publicly  against practices of their congregant that are not 
appropriate.? Not many, and if they do,  the chances are they will no 
longer be the rabbi of the shul.

There is a Young Israel near me where many of the older women come to 
shul with their hair not properly covered.  As far as I know,  while 
the rabbi has spoken about many topics,  he has never addressed this 
one or any of the other aspects of Tznius such as sleeve and hem 
length.  Why not?  I suspect that he is fearful of the response if he 
deals forcefully with these topics.

R Akiva Miller wrote:


>Count me among those who often can't remember the rabbi's topic two hours
>later. More often, I'm already at a loss two minutes later. And even more
>often, I am daydreaming even while he is still speaking. But that is MY
>problem, not his. I need to fight to try to pay attention and grab whatever
>bits I can. It's not easy, but isn't that part of what this world is for?

No, it is not your problem.  If the rabbi is an excellent speaker, 
then you will pay attention and listen carefully.  I lived in 
Elizabeth, NJ for 6 years.  When Rav P. M. Teitz came to the shul 
where I  davened and spoke, I listened. Even though Yiddish is not my 
first language, I enjoyed his speeches in Yiddish more that his 
speeches in English, because he spoke a beautiful Litvishe Yiddish.

Rav Shimon Schwab's addresses at Agudah Conventions were one of the 
highlights of the Agudah weekends.  I am sure that his speeches in 
KAJ were just as interesting and well received. It is the speaker's 
job to capture your interest.  Most rabbonim do not know how and 
hence cannot do this.

R Akiva Miller wrote:


>If certain people are "left out" when the topic is "heavily focused on
>Torah subjects", how will they ever grow? For many people, especially those
>who for whatever reason do not attend minyan during the week, the rabbi's
>Shabbos morning speech will be their main (or only) exposure to any Torah
>thoughts at all.

How will women (grow) improve positively if the topic is heavily 
focused on Gemara?  To the best of my knowledge, the overwhelming 
majority of Bais Yaakovs do not teach gemara to their students.

R. Akiva Miller wrote:


>I suspect that the response will be something like: "No! I AM trying to
>grow! I have a regular learning seder, and I go to lots of shiurim!" I
>truly applaud that - adding to one's knowledge of Torah is a very good
>thing. But a rav has a very important ability that a maggid shiur lacks: If
>he sees areas where the community needs to be stronger, he has the
>authority to speak about it publicly. If a maggid shiur tries that, a
>common response may be, "Interesting, but off-topic."

Why isn't the rabbi the one giving most or all of the shiurim?  The 
rov I referred to above who greatly improved in a positive way his 
congregation,  gave vitally al of the shiurum in his shul.

R Akiva Miller wrote:

>Here are a few such questions that came to me, just off the top of my head:
>
>How early can we daven maariv?

>How early can we count sefira?

Check with <http://www.myzmanim.com/>

MyZmanim.com - Instant zmanim for anywhere in the world

>Is the mechitza high enough? solid enough?

I agree that the answer to this requires a competent posek, and he 
may not be the rabbi of the shul.

>Which hechsherim are okay for a shul-sponsored kiddush?

As I have said more than once,  most rabbis are not familiar with the 
details of kashrus.  Ask a rabbi whose meat is used is a particular 
brand of delicatessen, and you will probably get the response, "I do 
not know, call the organization giving the supervision."

I have davened in a shul where the rov,  a highly respected talmud 
chocham,  allowed a women to bring in food from her home for a 
Kiddush.  He is makpid on yoshon,  yet when I asked who gives the 
supervision on a bakery whose products he allowed in shul,  he could 
not answer me.  For many chassidic places, if a person is considered 
heimish (whatever that means) , then he can bring in food to the shul 
from his home.

A rabbi should be able to establish guidelines,  but in my experience 
many do not have the proper knowledge.  In discussions with one 
rabbi, it quickly became clear that I knew more about the intricacies 
of kashrus than he did. For the record,  this rabbi was a first rate 
talmud chocham.

>If a problem is found in the Sefer Torah, is it pasul?
>If the baal koreh makes a mistake, does he have to repeat it?

Shouldn't the Baal Kriah be knowledgeable enough to answer these 
questions? If he isn't, then should he be leining?

>Which kibudim (if any) can be given to a non-shomer Shabbos who comes for a
>bar mitzvah?

Is their really any agreement on the answer to this situation?

R. Akiva Miller wrote:


>Your mention of the Ezras Torah luach strikes me as odd, considering how
>very very often it cites differing minhagim. I've personally seen cases
>where it adds to the confusion and machlokes instead of resolving it. My
>recollection is that Rav Henkin originally designed it for the rabbis, and
>specifically NOT for the congregants, in order to help those rabbis in
>their  leadership choices.

If it was for rabbis and gives differing minhagim,  then how does it 
help the rabbi in his "Leadership choices"?

R Akiva Miller wrote:


>But more importantly than *any* of that: If a not-so-nice incident occurs
>in the community, who will give them mussar about it?

Indeed, who will do this.  I see practices that seem to me to be a 
clear violations of the mitzvah to guard one's health being ignored 
by multitudes,  yet no one speaks out about this to chastise those 
who do this. Just think of the large funerals in EY during the Carona 
virus lockdowns.  Didn't any rabbi of stature speak out against this?

R. Akiva Miller wrote:

>Yes, the OU will have very detailed knowledge about the various food
>products. But what then? How do we pasken? Should I be machmir, or perhaps
>it is more appropriate for me to be meikil? What does the OU know about me
>and my community? How can the OU decide whether or not my shul should allow
>food that's non-cholov yisroel, or non-yashan, or non-glatt? And they're
>certainly not going to decide which *other* hechsherim should be allowed.

These are questions that should be asked of a recognized posek,  In 
general, the rabbi of a shul is not a recognized posek. The Jewish 
Press used to write, "Ask you local competent Orthodox rabbi."  From 
this I deduced that there must be a local Orthodox rabbi who is not 
competent! >:-}

R. Akiva Miller wrote:


>To sum up:
>
>RYL wrote: <<< Davening is routine every week. >>>
>
>That's not the answer. That's the PROBLEM!
>
>I'm not suggesting that most rabbis can successfully fix that problem. Or
>even that a minority have been successful. But if one's preference is to
>have no rabbi at all, he is surrendering.

Surrendering to what? Is he under attack and if so,  by whom?

YL

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