Torah vs. Saving Lives

Megillah 16b

Rav Yosef said: Studying Torah is greater than saving lives, as initially, when listing the Jewish leaders who came to Eretz Yisrael, Mordecai was mentioned after four other people, but at the end he was listed after five. This is taken to indicate that his involvement in governmental affairs instead of in Torah study lowered his stature one notch. The Gemara proves this: At first it is written: “Who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Seraiah, Reelaiah, Mordecai, Bilshan” (Ezra 2:2); but in the end in a later list it is written: “Who came with Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Nehemiah, Azariah, Raamiah, Nahmani, Mordecai, Bilshan” (Nehemiah 7:7).

Taz, Yoreh Deah 251:14 (6) On the Gemara in Megillah at the end of the first chapter "Greater is Talmud Torah than saving a life." Certainly, nothing stands before saving a life. It is saying there that the one who is studying Torah and is not presented with the call to save a life has greater merit than the one who is put in that situation. [David ha-Levi Segal (c. 1586 – 20 February 1667)] 

The Ben Ish Chai (Ben Yohoyada) says this refers to not actual saving of life but to working for the potential of saving lives. This is after the Purim story where Mordechai worked in government affairs. [Yosef Hayim (1 September 1835 – 30 August 1909)]

גָּדוֹל תַּלְמוּד תּוֹרָה יוֹתֵר מֵהַצָּלַת נְפָשׁוֹת. הקשה הרי"ף למה לא דייק זה מדכתיב (אסתר י, ג) 'לְרֹב אֶחָיו' ולא כתיב 'לְכָל אֶחָיו' יעוין שם, ותירוצו דחוק מאד.

ונראה לי בס"ד דמעיקרא קושיא ליתא דמשם איכא למילף להיפך, יען דקאמר המיעוט הוא דפרשו אבל הרוב לא סבירא ליה הכי וילפינן מסברת הרבים ואיך ילפינן מדעת המיעוט להכי מייתי מקראי דנכתבים ברוח הקודש ודייקינן מנייהו שפיר דהא רוח הקודש הסכימה גם כן כסברת המיעוט. ועוד נראה לי דמכאן איכא הוכחה טפי דאף על גב דעלה לארץ ישראל ועזב השררה, עם כל זה מנאו אחר חמשה.

ודע דהא דקאמר יותר מהצלת נפשות לאו הצלת נפשות בודאי ממש דהא ודאי אין דבר עומד בפני פקוח נפש, אך הכונה על ספק הצלת נפשות דהא 

"And know when it says that it (Talmud Torah) is greater than the saving of lives, it is not referring to the definite saving of lives. Behold, nothing stands before with the saving of life. It is established on the doubtful saving of life. The righteous Mordechai, may he rest in peace, seized the kingdom after Israel had already been saved and the miracle had been performed, and only said that perhaps the matter of saving souls would come to him from here on out."

Seems to me that the term greater is vague here. It could mean only that we must always put the Talmid Chocham first because through the Torah we learn what to do. It does not necessarily mean that Mordechai's reward is less. 

You see also here the difference between the Litvack and the Sephardi. The Litvack, and the Taz was a kind of early Litvack, sees in this that study is the greater and provides the most merit. His reading doesn't fit the text as well as that of the Sephardi who takes from the Gemara it's more fitting meaning. The Litvish obsession with study and reward is visible here. And it's how this Gemara was always presented to me, but I see now that the presentation is very Litvish and not necessarily what the Gemara is saying. 

Volhynia or Volynia (/voʊˈlɪniə/ voh-LIN-ee-ə; see #Names and etymology) is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between southeastern Poland, southwestern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but in Ukraine it is roughly equivalent to Volyn Oblast, Rivne Oblast, and the northern part of the Khmelnytskyi Oblast and Ternopil Oblast. The territory that still carries the name is Volyn Oblast.

Yeshivitis

Chassidim are affected by neo-Litvishism. Witness Rabbi E. Biderman:

It states (Mishlei 8:11), כי טובה חכמה מפנינים וכל For wisdom is better than" ,חפצים לא ישוו ב ה pearls; all desirable things cannot compare to it." The Gemara (Moed Katan 8:) adds, אפילו חפצי Even mitzvos don't compare" ,שמים לא ישוו ב ה to Torah." Because the greatest mitzvah a person can perform is to study Torah.

What does the Gemara  actually say: (page 9 by the way, not 8)

The two scholars, Rabbi Yonatan ben Asmai and Rabbi Yehuda, son of converts, once again sat and raised the following dilemma: In one place it is written in praise of the Torah: “She is more precious than rubies; and all of your desires are not to be compared to her” (Proverbs 3:15). One can infer from here that all human desires cannot be compared to the Torah, but the desires of Heaven, i.e., mitzvot, can indeed be compared to her. And elsewhere it is written: “For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it” (Proverbs 8:11), which indicates that even mitzvot cannot be compared to the Torah.

They resolved this contradiction by stating that here, in the second verse, it is discussing a mitzva that can be done by others. In that case, even mitzvot cannot be compared to the Torah, and accordingly, one who is engaged in Torah study should not interrupt his studies in order to perform another mitzva. However, there, in the first verse, it is discussing a mitzva that cannot be done by others. In that case Torah study is not more important than the mitzva, and one should interrupt his studies in order to perform the mitzva.

This is similar to the debate in Kiddushin on Torah vs mitzvos where Torah is deemed to take precedence because it leads to doing. 

Moed Katan can be read to say study before doing mitzvos others can do because it leads to more mitzvos which is God's desire. He only shows you the second verse not the first which presents a contradiction. \

And guess what, he studied at Ponevitch

Does it have to be every time?

 

Melcher was born in North Adams, Massachusetts, to Jewish parents Minnie (née Gabriner) and Alter Melcher.[4]

Let's be normal and enjoy

So why not be a Litvack then?

So if what prevails today is not Litvishism but rather Yeshivism, if true Litvacks honor all the Gemara, including teach your son a trade, 18 to the chupah,  study what the heart desires, find a shiduch for an orphan, etc, then why not be a Litvack? If true Litvacks are not poisonous, why not be one?

It's a matter of style. Litvacks even traditionally are more focused on nigleh and analytics, less community oriented than Chassidim, less interested in the mystical and the tzadik. You can still be a good eved Hashem that way, and if it's your derech, then do it. But if you want more community and mysticism and connection with the tzadik, then Chassidus would be better. If you want more connection with humanity, if you find Hashem in nature and science, then you might be more of a Hirschian. Those are all valid derachim. 

Yeshivism, in my opinion, you can do it if you want, but it's not Litvishism, even though the Yeshivists claim to be the heirs of Litvishism. They are imposters in that regard. They are doing something else. And maybe it works for many people. That's not for me to judge. But call it what it is. And don't insist that it's the true derech because it's the least true derech. 

The source of the disease

It's interesting how similar shivists are to rabid zionists. Both can be nasty, mean, deceitful. They are not interested in HaShem. They toss away mitzvos. They can be perverse.

So much in common, people often see them as opposing one another. But they are two sides of the same coin. It's like the democrats and republicans. Same thing. All opposed to the people, all violating the constitution.

The root cause of the problem isn't zionism. Even under shivism  there's a root cause. They turned from HaShem and His commandments. And so a nastiness emerges. The resulting disease took the form of shivism in some, zionism in others. 

Stupid is as stupid does

Let us first distinguish between Litvacks and Neo-Litvacks. Real Litvacks honor the teachings of the Gemara. Rav Avigdor Miller is an example. What Torah should you study? You should study what your heart desires. So says the Gemara. So says Rabbi Miller. Most men should not be in Kollel. They should be working and studying some each night. So says the Gemara. So says Rabbi Miller. You should not disparage talmidei chochamim. You should honor the different groups of frum klal Yisroel. You can learn certain things from the gentiles. Everyone is created in God's image. Mitzvos are extremely important. So says the Gemara. So says Rabbi Miller. On and on it goes.

Over the last 70 years, the same period of time in which the state of israel has existed, Litvishism transmogrified into Neo-Litvishism. The change is so vast that it's unfair to even call it Neo-Litvishism. We shall call it Yeshivism. Yeshivism isn't a new form of Litvishism. It's a monster all its own. The word Litvish should be not be sullied via association. Yeshivism is as Litvish as the state of israel is Jewish. Yeshivism has as much to do with Litvishism as the state of israel has to do with the Kingdom of Israel. In other words, it's an imposter. It's identity theft just as the state of israel is identity theft. Shall we call it Shivism, after the India god Shiva, or as an allusion to sitting shiva for certainly these people kill all the life in you, using a shiv, a knife.

Shivists don't follow the Gemara. They claim to follow "the gadolim" who allegedly follow the Gemara, but they actually only follow leaders who follow them in their value system that is built on a handful of weird ideas.

Everything I listed above, they don't do. They don't study what the heart desires. They don't send out the boys to earn a living. They don't honor other groups.

What do they do? Stupidity. Everything about them is stupid. Everything. Their limiting of Torah study to lomdus on a few chapters of yeshivishe mesectos is stupid. Their refusal to study grammar or the Hebrew language is stupid. The refusal to teach young people the basics of the Mesorah is stupid.  Their refusal to teach halacha is stupid. Their making being a gaon the purpose of life is stupid. Their approach to halacha and their deemphasis on mitzvos is stupid.

What else is stupid about them?

Their view of the person as basically evil. Their negativity about everything. Their hatred of the world. Their approach to shidduchim. Their approach to marriage. Their approach to rabbinic leadership (having a rav).Their choice of where to live (NY or Israel). Their approach to choosing a profession when they allow it. Their obsession with money. Their yeshivish speak. Their clothing. Their zmiros. Their complete ignorance about mental health, as a teenage girl said to me recently. Their lack of modesty. Their competitiveness. Their obnoxiousness. Their self-worship. Their attitude they only they have the truth. 

I could go on. Name a topic of life and they are stupid about it. The irony is that they see themselves as geniuses, but stupid is as stupid does. 

I mentioned that this stupidity is coterminous with the state of israel. The Gemara talks about the Three Oaths by which Klal Yisrael agreed not to take the land by force. Many in the yeshiva world embraced the state of israel or ignored the violation of the oaths by the Zionists, the punishment for which is extreme. 

Why/What are these Three Oaths? One, that Israel should not go up [to the land] in a wall {i.e. en masse, RaShI interprets: forcefully}. Two, the Holy One adjured Israel not to rebel against the nations of the world. Three, the Holy One adjured the nations that they would not oppress Israel too much. (Kesubos 111)

The punishment for violation of the oaths severe:

“I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and by the hinds of the field” (Song of Songs 2:7). Rabbi Elazar said: The Holy One, Blessed be He, said to the Jewish people: If you fulfill the oath, it is good, and if not, I will abandon your flesh (and all will devour you) like the gazelles and like the hinds of the field.

And that is what the shivists are doing to klal Yisroel, they devour everything: the chassidim, the yekkes, baalei teshuvah. They are the punishment for their own violation of the Three Oaths. 

I advise you to stay away from them. Don't do stupid things, in stupid places, with stupid people. And they are stupid.