NY or Israel

When you enter the frum world you will mostly likely be pushed to live in New York or Israel. Why is that? It's largely because the frum world has come to devalue mitzvos and to focus nearly exclusively on Torah study. I'll explain what I mean. Note, I'm talking about the Haredi world. I'll discuss the Modern Orthodox world in a bit.

I'm not just talking about Litvacks. I watched a few interviews recently of Chassidic men who left Judaism. As they talked about their childhoods, each one reflected on how they were good boys which meant they learned (i.e. studied) well, were masmidim (diligent students), and were knowledgeable in all aspects of Torah. The latter point is not true as their education was narrow and focused mostly on Talmudic pilpul and a bit of Chumash, but that's a topic for another day. The topic for now is that Judaism to them was defined as study. It's no wonder that they left mitzvos as the importance of mitzvos was not stressed to them.

So what's the connection to living in New York and Israel? Those places by far have the most yeshivas, so they present a SUPERFICIAL allure for those who value study. You see yeshiva building after yeshiva building and assume this must be a good place for study. New York has the added advantage of being a place with financial opportunities, or at least people who talk about money all day long, and Torah study requires money. Israel has the advantage of having the "air that makes one wise," or at least is thought of that way.

But are New York and Israel the best for study? They have more yeshivas but it's not as if each yeshiva has a specialty that will help you to get a broad education if you spend time at each. Quite to the contrary, they mimic one another. They all focus on Talmudic pilpul of yeshivishe mesechtas and all study the same mesechta each zman (semester). They don't join together to create a group enthusiasm. Quite to the contrary, they compete for students, donors, and instructors. They don't pool their funds and build a big central library. Each has its own library with nearly identical collections. Most men associate with one shul and one yeshiva for their entire lives and never or rarely step foot in another. How does it help you to be around 20 yeshivas and 100 shuls whose doors you never enter? What advantage is there to studying in New York or Israel? 

I argue that other than the superficial appeal of seeing lots of yeshiva buildings, there are many disadvantages. The biggest of them is that you'll have less time for study there. Housing in New York and Israel is expensive. Starting at $800,000, the housing is so pricey that, unless you are rich, you'll need to work 50 to 60 hours a week to pay for it and for the expensive tuition that pays for the expensive houses of the yeshiva staff. You'll also need time to recover from the more stressful jobs and life in general that are characteristic of NY and Israel. The most important thing for your Torah study is studying. If you have less time for it in NY and Israel, then you are better off living where you have more time for it.

So even according to the view that "nothing else matters" but study, NY and Israel are not best for study. But there is something that matters even more than study, or at least as much. I'm talking about mitzvos. Shlomo said, "The sum of the matter: fear Hashem and keep the commandments. That is the sum of the man." (Koheles 13:12) It's amazing that I can be looked at almost like a heretic for quoting Koheles and emphasizing the importance of mitzvos. That's how far we have fallen. At Sinai, we said "we will do and we will hear." The Sfas Emes says that this shows the primacy of mitzvos! Of course, study is a mitzvah, and you need study to know what mitzvos to do. But mitzvos are essential.

Are New York and Israel good for mitzvos? Well, it's harder to do many of the mitzvos there. Hospitality to guests is harder because of the lack of space, particularly in Israel. Chesed is harder because people are less friendly and tend to compete with each other. In Israel, they wage war with one another. Honesty is business dealings is harder because of the financial pressures and corruption, particularly in Israel. Contemplating Hashem is harder because of the emotional stress and work pressures as well as the constant talk about money in New York and internecine strife, politics, and war in Israel.  

And then there's middos. If you look at the works of the Rishonim they talk extensively about middos. NY and Israel are middos deficient places. Maybe you want to live in a place with more Jews, but that's not going to help you if those places are middos deficient.

There's no rule in the Torah that you must always live around the most Jews. Many of the tzadickim of the prior generations came from small shtetls that had little contact with other shtetls. I'm talking about gadolim like Rabbis Moshe Feinstein, Yaakov Kamenetsky, Aharon Kotler, Yosef Eliyahu Henkin, and Joseph Soloveitchik and Admorim like those of Satmar, Lubavitch, Tosh, and Rivnitz, and many others. They all came from small villages!

Now what about the Modern Orthodox? Well there, obviously the pressure is to move to Israel, even though it might be harder to observe the mitzvos there, as explained, particularly with the requirement of military servitude. Most Modern Orthodox olim go down in mitzvah observance in Israel in part because the Dati Leumi world is antagonistic to the Haredi world whereas in chutz they are positively influenced by them. 

And then there are other factors, such as what culture you are used to, where family and friends live, what weather you are used to, what nature you like to be around, etc.

Thus, people who value mitzvos and who look deeper into the matter of study will not necessarily direct you to live in NY or Israel. 

So beware of this pressure to move to New York or Israel. Rav SR Hirsch says that the carrying handles of the Aron were permanent unlike those of the shulchan and other implements. This teaches that Torah can be observed and studied anywhere. You do not need to be in NY or Israel. And if living in those places makes it harder to observe the mitzvos, to contemplate Hashem, and to work on your middos, then don't live there.