A prominent scholar did me a big favor recently when he commented to me that the yeshiva world exaggerates about everything. I had been asking him about a tendency I have observed for parts of the yeshiva world to reduce the Torah to one mitzvah - Torah study. Yarsheit drashot of gadolim these days seem usually to talk exclusively about hasmada in learning, to bizarre degrees at times, such as bombs are falling and while everyone else prayed for safety he prayed for life so he could study more Torah. Stuff like that which to me don't seem like healthy or appropriate acts. Additionally, you'll hear nothing about honesty, chesed, care with mitzvos - just Torah study. So we were discussing the Mishnah "Talmid Torah c'neged culam", which typically is given as a source for this attitude. (Note, I don't see a basis for the attitude in this source since it says Torah is equal to the mitzvot not greater. Also, ceneged suggests a relationship and Rabbi Soloveitchik says indeed that the Mishnah is saying Torah study brings you to the mitzvot.) At this point, this distinguished rabbi said that the yeshiva world exaggerates this concept, they exaggerate about everything.
And if you think about it, my goodness, they really do. Take for example the admonition to have a rav. Today, it's out of control. My rav this, my rav that. Did you ask your rav. I don't have to elaborate. I tell people that it's doubtful in Rashi's day that people could consult with their rav all that often given that lack of electronics and the distance between farms. People didn't necessarily go to shul everyday. Didn't Rav Chaim Volozhin see the Vilna Gaon once a year or something like that?
Well today you don't get much time with rabbis either. They have no time and often they have no interest. I'm not even getting into the question of whether or not they have something to offer. I think back on my time at yeshiva and at shuls. I approached the rabbis there and elsewhere on countless occasions and usually got half-answers, no answers. Now and again, someone would spend 5 minutes with me. On a few occasions, a bit more than that. It is what it is. What bothers me is how the reality of little time rabbis have conflicts with the right wing model of not thinking for oneself and going to the rav. What it really means is following the crowd that thinks it's following the rav because you never really speak to the rav. And then it isn't a rav because it's not personal. When I was first becoming frum and fearing that I might be entering a cult people told me, don't worry, the rabbis customize halacha for your case. They see into the person. I can believe that the great ones could do it when necessary. But I can't believe that it applies to people who never talk to you.
Modern Orthodox rabbis don't have much time for people either but at least in that world people generally don't say that you can't make a move without your rav. What goes on in the right wing world is unreasonable. You can't make a move without consulting somebody who won't talk to you. That's crazy. The result is that you just follow the crowd in all things and that's unhealthy.
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