QUESTION:
The Rav teaches us in his sefarim (Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh) based on the words of the sefarim hakedoshim that the purpose of life is to reach d’veykus, and how everything else is just a tool to get there. I am having a hard time with this. I went through the Yeshiva system, I learned by Rav Shteinman and Rav Gershon Edelstein and others, and it’s also know to me that Reb Chaim [Greineman] and Reb Dov Landau and many other Talmidei Chochomim of our generation – they all toiled in Torah their entire lives, yet we never heard from any of them that one needs to prepare his mind and heart before he is about to learn, we never heard from them that the main thing is d’veykus and that Torah is just a tool to get to d’veykus. I heard Rav Shteinman a lot, and he always said that the main thing is to learn Torah at every spare moment we have. We do not see in any of the sefarim of these Gedolim, nor did we see in their behavior, any emphasis on “d’veykus”. And that is why the emphasis in the world of Yeshivos is on learning Torah, not on d’veykus.
So I am very confused – on one hand, the Rav is saying that his teachings in his sefarim are not his own invention but that they are based on the Ramchal and Nefesh HaChaim and others, but on the other hand, I have a long list of Rabbonim who clearly didn’t emphasize what the Rav teaches – they don’t practice it and they don’t teach it and educate about it. And these are all very great people – according to everyone. Therefore, is the Rav coming from an entirely different approach in hashkafah? Or is the reason for this because our generation simply has difficulty with the concepts that the Rav teaches? Were the Rav’s teachings simple basics to the Steipler, Rav Shach, Rav Shteinman, Rav Nisim Karelitz, Rav Gershon Edelstein, Rav Berel Povarsky, and other Gedolim – and is that why these Gedolim learned Torah every second and never had to keep repeating to themselves “There is a Creator”?
It’s clear to me that this question is bothering many people who learn the Rav’s sefarim, if they went through the Yeshiva system. They can see and feel how the Rav’s sefarim are a contradiction [to the traditional education we receive in yeshiva]. I think it would be a great mitzvah for the Rav to give us some explanation here, and I thank the Rav and may the Rav be blessed from Above. I am sure the Rav will understand me, because the Rav was educated in the Yeshiva system and knows exactly what I’m talking about, and the Rav sends his own children to the yeshivos where the educational system is different than what the Rav teaches, and the Rav also knows that all other Rabbonim and Gedolim are emphasizing only Torah learning and nothing else. That is why it is so hard for me to take the path that the Rav is teaching us – I find it all to be in direct contradiction to all the education that I’ve been taught.
So I am very confused – on one hand, the Rav is saying that his teachings in his sefarim are not his own invention but that they are based on the Ramchal and Nefesh HaChaim and others, but on the other hand, I have a long list of Rabbonim who clearly didn’t emphasize what the Rav teaches – they don’t practice it and they don’t teach it and educate about it. And these are all very great people – according to everyone. Therefore, is the Rav coming from an entirely different approach in hashkafah? Or is the reason for this because our generation simply has difficulty with the concepts that the Rav teaches? Were the Rav’s teachings simple basics to the Steipler, Rav Shach, Rav Shteinman, Rav Nisim Karelitz, Rav Gershon Edelstein, Rav Berel Povarsky, and other Gedolim – and is that why these Gedolim learned Torah every second and never had to keep repeating to themselves “There is a Creator”?
It’s clear to me that this question is bothering many people who learn the Rav’s sefarim, if they went through the Yeshiva system. They can see and feel how the Rav’s sefarim are a contradiction [to the traditional education we receive in yeshiva]. I think it would be a great mitzvah for the Rav to give us some explanation here, and I thank the Rav and may the Rav be blessed from Above. I am sure the Rav will understand me, because the Rav was educated in the Yeshiva system and knows exactly what I’m talking about, and the Rav sends his own children to the yeshivos where the educational system is different than what the Rav teaches, and the Rav also knows that all other Rabbonim and Gedolim are emphasizing only Torah learning and nothing else. That is why it is so hard for me to take the path that the Rav is teaching us – I find it all to be in direct contradiction to all the education that I’ve been taught.
ANSWER:
These assumptions are not accurate. We have to be davuk (attached) in both in the ratzon (will) and chochmah (wisdom) of Hashem.
Rav Shach was very involved with teaching emunah. It is known that he told Rav Don Segal that when he cannot fall asleep at night, he is heavily involved with thinking about emunah. And in the talks which I heard from him in yeshiva, he spoke a lot about emunah. And Rav Gershon Edelstein speaks about it regularly.
Rav Shach was very involved with teaching emunah. It is known that he told Rav Don Segal that when he cannot fall asleep at night, he is heavily involved with thinking about emunah. And in the talks which I heard from him in yeshiva, he spoke a lot about emunah. And Rav Gershon Edelstein speaks about it regularly.
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