tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11425059.post111323985048190152..comments2023-10-30T08:40:59.016-04:00Comments on Wolfish Musings: On Yeshivos and Minor League BaseballBrooklynWolfhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03994285019137108636noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11425059.post-1113346895476791392005-04-12T19:01:00.000-04:002005-04-12T19:01:00.000-04:00It's well known that practically all mainstream ye...It's well known that practically all mainstream yeshivas (at least the black-hat ones) are focused only on producing learners. Everything else is looked down upon and considered an option only after you've served your kollel time (which by then is usually far too late to learn any serious profession). No self-respecting yeshiva guy would ever admit to not wanting to be a learner.The Hedyothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15193083251783618457noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11425059.post-1113325584665088702005-04-12T13:06:00.000-04:002005-04-12T13:06:00.000-04:00Ron you hit it on the head. Being a former CB high...Ron you hit it on the head. Being a former CB high school student<BR/>myself I can honestly say it was not the way to go. They threw every<BR/>thing from the Stiepler to Rabenu Asher to Mordechai and everything in between. Good post.AShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05802355878284709939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11425059.post-1113316053082891912005-04-12T10:27:00.000-04:002005-04-12T10:27:00.000-04:00Yeshivas were elitist institutions until, basicall...Yeshivas were elitist institutions until, basically, after WWII. In its heydey just prior to WWII the vaunted yeshivas of Europe had approximately 5 or 6000 students. Out of 8 or 9 million people.<BR/><BR/>There is the well known Midrash Vayikra Rabba 2:1 that one thousand enters to mikra and one reaches hora'ah. Whether or not this particular proportion is literal, it does portray the attitude that was held until the present day when the yeshiva could finally became a mass institution. However the fact that it is now a mass rather than eltitist institution does not mean that educational methods have sufficiently been adapted to the present reality.<BR/><BR/>I've heard it said (favorably) about R. Yitzchak Hutner that when he came to America in the '30s people were tsk tsking about the sad state of religious affairs and how it would take a couple of generations to be able to establish real (read: European-style) yeshivas in America. R. Hutner said "No! We will do it now, with this generation!" and he did. La la la, the rest is history.<BR/><BR/>Except, of course, that his model was Slobodka, which catered to an elite. Not that Chaim Berlin claims to be or is elitist (I know; I went there for most of a decade) but the fact is that yeshivas today are modeled after those gedolim manufacturing plants of old, the East European yeshivas (with many modifications, of course).<BR/><BR/>High schools especially do not function as high schools. To illustrate the point, when I was in 8th grade we didn't learn anything more than an occasional Tosefos since our rebbe had a shittah that developing boys should gain proficiency in Gemara with Rashi before treading in sometimes confusing and distracting waters. First learn the vocabulary and peshat, then get into upshlugging Rashi, you know? Then next year I was in MYRCB and not only were we learning Yevamos with every Tosefos and Maharsha, but we were also learning R. Elchonons and R. Akiva Eigers. We were all of 14. Now that is not a curriculum designed for the kids who don't even know what Tosefos is all about.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11425059.post-1113295499043883072005-04-12T04:44:00.000-04:002005-04-12T04:44:00.000-04:00I don't think your experience is unique at all and...I don't think your experience is unique at all and I would go a step further, among the boys that were really into learning and really motivated to make learning their full time "job" only the sharp minds, or excessively motivated student got the necessary encouragement and attentiont from the teachers to obtain such a goal.The less intelligent boys were just not "bachert" for greatness.....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com