I Used to Be the Guy in That Ad

Shavuos thoughts triggered by a Yeshiva fundraising campaign

I recently saw an ad promoting an event for a prominent Yeshiva. The bold text read נעשה ונשמע, and under it was a picture of a packed Beit Midrash. For some reason, I couldn’t get this ad out of my head. Shavuos is coming up. Am I ready?

When reflecting on the ad, I thought back to my Yeshiva days, when I was the guy in that picture. Fast forward to today, I am not learning nearly as much as I used to. If 19-year-old Yaakov wanted to ‘talk in learning,’ I might be able to hold pace, using a combination of residual memories with some of the diversion and evasion methods honed during a period as shoel umeishiv. But honestly, I am not there anymore. My mind, my energy, my schedule are scattered. There’s no getting around that. But what about נעשה ונשמע?

I thought about it some more, and gathered some thoughts below. Before sharing them, I want to be very clear: this is not a critique in any way, shape, or form. I owe an infinite debt of gratitude to my Yeshiva (KBY), my Rabbeim, and the ecosystem around it. The state of Torah and Yeshiva today is a tremendous blessing. But there are some side effects, and that is what I want to talk about. So here we go

19 year-old Yaakov would be SO embarassed at the sight of his future self learning daf yomi from an artscroll. So balabatish!

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Social Media Era

It’s a shmuess that has been given thousands of times. Yeshivas, high schools, and shuls. “The social media era fills our lives with envy of other people.” The shmuess is so popular mainly because it’s true. And it’s not limited to the Torah world, although honestly, the rabanim were way ahead of the ball on this. Books, podcasts, and educational initiatives from completely secular sources are cropping up about this issue as well.

But in an ironic twist, we now have a Torah version of social media envy. Flashy advertisements, influencer campaigns, the whole deal. How did we get here?

The reason for this is very simple. Torah has become an industry. To be very clear, this is very good. The explosion of Torah institutions has created an entire ecosystem. Salaries need to be paid, new buildings need to be built, and industrial kitchens need to pump out thousands of pieces of schnitzel by the end of morning seder.

This is accomplished through fundraising events, matching campaigns, and raffles. A lot of hard work goes into funding these institutions. For the most part, this is done by sincere people who genuinely believe in the cause, and if you meet someone who chooses to fundraise and doesn’t believe in the cause, send them for help immediately. The end result is that well-meaning people are aggressively marketing their yeshivas to fund the explosion of Torah learning.

Torah Marketing

We also need to point out that Torah itself is deployed to help the fundraising succeed. There are many sources which speak of the importance of learning Torah, being fully devoted to Torah, and giving financial support to Torah. These are utilized to encourage people to support the yeshiva ecosystem.

But now let’s consider this phenomenon from the consumer’s viewpoint. What are the effects on the broader tzibbur consuming this content? What was going through my head when I saw the campaign which said נעשה ונשמע?

This goes back to the ‘social media generation.’ One aspect of the broader problem is this: the world on our screens does not accurately represent the real world. In part, this is due to fabrications, but that’s only a small part of the problem. The main issue is framing and proportion. Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky called this the availability heuristic. We assume that information which is more available is also more common. A famous example is that people assume certain deaths from accidents are more common because they generate more news coverage, as opposed to deaths by stroke or diabetes.

When it comes to Torah, we end up in a similar dynamic. The ecosystem needs to be marketed, and we end up seeing a lot about yeshivos on our screens. This is not just generic content, since it is framed, correctly, as a religious value. This makes the importance of Torah learning in Yeshiva loom large in our hearts and minds.

So what’s the problem?

Broad Life?

The problem is that there are many other religious values that don’t get the same air time. Generally, this is a challenge, that one value might be overly represented. But it’s a specific problem for guys like me.

My outlook was shaped in Yeshiva, but now I am transitioning to serving Hashem in other settings. This is challenging, since I need to develop a new hashkafa. When I was in Yeshiva, my hashkafa was built around the importance of Talmud Torah.

Now that I am working, spending time with the family, and helping at home, there isn’t nearly as much time left for Torah learning. In order to appreciate the religious value of my current stage, I need to broaden my horizons to appreciate the importance of the entire system of 613 mitzvos. I also need to gain a new appreciation for sources in Chazal that praise and promote other religious values besides Talmud Torah, like chessed. And as I work to develop this new approach, I look at my phone and see a packed Yeshiva: נעשה ונשמע.

Additionally, the way we think of limmud hatorah is also affected. The visuals of packed Batei Midrash lead us to think that this is the way Torah is meant to be learned. But what about a small chabura of balabatim learning mishnayos after shacharis? The lawyer listening to a shiur on his way in to the office? There are many other forms of learning which don’t make it on to our feed. And this lack of attention influences the way we think about its importance.

Summarizing the Challenge

So we end up with a three-pronged challenge.

1. The Torah ecosystem means there is lots of Yeshiva content on our screens.

2. This isn’t just marketing content. It’s religious ideas about the importance of learning and supporting Torah.

3. For those who were in Yeshiva but are broadening their outlook to focus on other mitzvos and other types of learning, this can be an added challenge.

Fighting Back

What can Bnei Torah in the workforce do about this situation? The same three-part framework can be engineered in the service of our goals. Before I lay out how this works, its important to note that one of the keys to thriving in the social media era is to limit its influence in the first place. It’s a massive challenge, but minimizing the amount of content we consume online is always a good idea. That has to be coupled with a concerted effort to build self confidence and self esteem, so we can live by our own values and not be overloy influenced by outside forces.

Flood the Feed

But in the end of the day, we live in the social media generation. So in addition to trying to mitigate its effects, we can also use the same strategies to strengthen the values which we believe in. Let’s return to the three-part framework we mentioned above. The first thing that is needed is to create and consume content that celebrates the life of a Ben Torah in the workforce.

Someone once asked me why I started the Shtark Tank podcast. What can I add that wasn’t already covered in Rav Aharon Lopiansky’s Ben Torah for Life? There are a few answers, but one is that the podcast format means that people are engaging with these issues regularly. Paying constant attention to this topic is part of building a long-term identity around it.

Additionally, there is so much Torah about this topic which isn’t learned enough. Just like Yeshiva marketing champions certain Torah sources, baalabatim also need to learn and appreciate the many ideas in Torah and Chazal that give importance to their lifestyle.

Hopefully, this will help us develop and live by a hashkafa that gives value to each and every day of our lives. We shouldn’t be looking in the rearview mirror to our Yeshiva days, but looking for opportunities to serve Hashem today. Donating to a Yeshiva can be part of it, but it’s certainly not your exclusive path to salvation.

There is another layer to this effort, which involves gaining a fresh understanding of what Torah is. Many of the sources used to inspire full-time Torah learning are true, powerful, and important. But some of them may also have a broader meaning. They may not only be speaking to the guy sitting in the Beit Midrash all day. They may also be speaking to the father, the employee, the husband, the neighbor, the donor, and the person trying to live a Torah life in the middle of the world.

That brings me back to the phrase that started this whole thought: נעשה ונשמע.

Balabatim at Sinai

I want to go back to the ad which I opened with. נעשה ונשמע. Why was that phrase used?

I don’t know for certain, but I am guessing that the ad I saw was alluding to the interpretation of the Beis HaLevy. Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik explained the word נשמע, which comes after נעשה, as referring to Torah that is completely lishma. Since learning practical halacha and doing all the mitzvos are covered by the first word, נעשה, that leaves us with this special value of Torah for the sake of Torah, which is implied by the word נשמע.

But this is far from the simplest explanation of that pasuk. Rashbam explains that some mitzvos were already given, and some were still to come, and the Jews accepted both, meaning we will do what we were already commanded, and also accept future commandments. The Sforno writes that we will do because we were commanded, meaning we will do the mitzvos lishma. That’s why they said they would do before saying they would listen. One could also explain that a deep understanding of a mitzvah can only be achieved after experiencing it.

All of these ideas do not assume that נעשה ונשמע is about the importance of learning Torah in a Yeshiva setting. In fact, they align much more naturally with the life of a baalabus, who is engaged in the world and is therefore involved in many more of the 613 mitzvos.

Torah Learning and Torah Living

This leads to another important point. Even sources which are used to promote the importance of learning Torah could have multiple interpretations.

In fact, the word Torah itself can often refer to one of two different things. One is a reference to the mitzvah of Talmud Torah, sitting and learning Torah. But the other is keeping the entire system, with all of its commandments, prohibitions, and values. This duality is clearly expressed in the bracha before Krias Shema, where we daven for the ability “to listen, to learn, to teach, to guard, to do and to uphold all of the words of your Torah with love.” The first three verbs are about the mitzvah of learning Torah. The second three are about living a life according to the Torah.

There are many ideas in Chazal about the importance of Torah. But it’s not always so clear if it’s referring to limmud haTorah or living a Torah life in the broader sense. Many people sitting in the Beit Midrash are told that they are holding up the world with their learning. This is based on a number of sources. The Mishna in Avos says that Torah is one of the things that the world stands on. The Gemara in Pesachim, based on a pasuk in Yeshayahu, says that God would not have created the world if not for the covenant of laws which are studied day and night.

Yet these ideas can also be understood to be about living a life according to Torah laws and values. For example, the Machzor Vitri on the second Mishna of Avos connects that Mishna, the world stands on Torah, the Gemara in Pesachim mentioned above, and a Gemara in Shabbos. The Gemara learns from an extra letter in Bereishis that the world was created on condition that the Jews accept the Torah at Sinai.

One Nation Under the Mountain

What happened at Sinai? The entire nation was standing at the foot of the mountain, and said נעשה ונשמע. This included all twelve tribes, men, women, young and old. The Torah was given to the entire nation, and the 613 mitzvos were given to infuse everyone’s life with spirituality and meaning.

This outlook is diametrically opposed to an idea which I heard in Yeshiva. The Gemara at the end of Makkos says that God wanted to give us extra benefits, so He gave us lots of Torah and mitzvos. And many mefarshim ask: doesn’t extra mitzvos mean extra chances to sin? Furthermore, the pasuk that is quoted to support this claim says that God “makes Torah great and glorious,” but fails to mention mitzvos. Rav David Kav zt”l, one of the senior Ramim in KBY, used to say that we have the mitzvah of matzah and chametz in order to learn the sugyas in Pesachim. That is why the extra mitzvos create more opportunities, and it’s also why the pasuk only says Torah and not mitzvos.

I think this is a fascinating idea, and great for Bnei Torah, but the simple pshat is way more balabatish. Putting aside the questions, and there are answers out there, the simplest understanding of the Torah is that the mitzvos lead to spiritual lives engaged with the world. And the Torah is meant to teach us how to act in various situations. That is why we learn al menas laasos.

There are times of our lives when we are meant to focus on learning, mainly when we are younger. There are also certain individuals who should be devoted to learning their entire life. But if we are talking about Har Sinai, with the entire nation present, we must remember that נעשה ונשמע is an acceptance of all 613.

Conslusion

These ideas are only the tip of the iceberg.

Torah is bigger than any one stage of life. It is bigger than the Beit Midrash, even though the Beit Midrash is one of its holiest expressions. Torah was given to an entire nation, with twelve shevatim, different roles, different paths, and one shared mission: to bring Hashem into every part of life.

Some people are meant to spend their lives in the Beit Midrash. All of us need years, hours, and moments where Torah learning is at the center. But for most of us, that time period is limited. Afterwards we need to broaden our horizons, and gain a fresh perspective on Avodas Hashem.

To work like a Ben Torah. To parent like a Ben Torah. To give like a Ben Torah. To speak, build, struggle, earn, spend, rest, and live like a Ben Torah.

That is the journey I hope we are all on. Not away from Torah, but deeper into it. Not only learning Torah, but letting Torah teach us how to live.

נעשה ונשמע was not only a commitment to learn Torah. It was a commitment to live it.