Rav
Aviner's lunch-time talk at the Yeshiva
on the 6th
anniversary of the Aliyah of Rabbi Mordechai Tzion,
who had served as Rabbi of Kehilat Ohr Tzion in Buffalo, NY
who had served as Rabbi of Kehilat Ohr Tzion in Buffalo, NY
Question:
Which is preferable – being a Rabbi outside of Israel or a regular Jew in Eretz
Yisrael?
Answer:
Which
is preferable – Davening Shacharit with a Minyan, or davening by oneself and
attending a Torah class? It is certainly
preferable to Daven with a Minyan, since this is the basic Halachah. Learning Torah is a worthwhile addition. The Torah does not state how much Torah a
person is obligated to learn, but rather that one is obligated to establish
fixed times for learning. Therefore, a
person must first be a normal Jew and Daven with a Minyan and then climb to
higher levels and attend classes (see Shut She'eilat Shlomo 3:51. Piskei Shlomo vol. 1, p. 55). Making Aliyah is a Torah Mitzvah incumbent on
each and every Jew (Pitchei Teshuvah, Even Ha-Ezer 75:6 in the name of the
Ramban). This means that is it not
enough for a certain percentage of Klal Yisrael to make Aliyah: each and every
Jew is obligated to do so. If he does
not make Aliyah, he violates a severe positive Mitzvah. There is no obligation, however, to be a
Rabbi. This is a worthwhile
addition. Therefore, a person must first
be a normal Jew and make Aliyah and he then can climb to higher levels and
become a Rabbi.
Ha-Rav
Yosef Chaim Zonenfeld and Maran Ha-Rav Kook both held that a working person in
Eretz Yisrael is preferable to a Torah scholar outside of Israel. In the book "Ha-Ish Al Ha-Chomah"
(pp. 157-158), it is related that Rav Zonenfeld's grandson, like many yeshiva
students, was in a difficult financial state but had a great desire to continue
learning Torah. He received an offer
from one of the famous cities in Czechoslovakia to become its Rabbi, which
would solve both of his problems. He
went to discuss the matter with his grandfather. Ha-Rav Zonenfeld lovingly looked at his grandson
and said to him: "According to my opinion, it is preferable to be a
working man in Eretz Yisrael than a Rabbi outside of Eretz Yisrael" (the
offer fell by the wayside). Similarly,
it is told in "Le-Shelosha Be-Elul" (Vol. 2 #32) that one of the students
asked Maran Ha-Rav Kook about traveling to America to become a Rabbi, and Rav
Kook did not agree. He said: "It is better to arrange a business here in
Yerushalayim than a Rabbinate in America" (And this is what the student did,
and he succeeded).
In
Igrot Le-Re'eiyah, amongst the additions at end, is a letter (#28) to Rabbenu
Ha-Rav Tzvi Yehudah from the Rav of Kutna, Rabbi Yitzchak Yehudah Trunk, the
son of Rabbi Yehoshua of Kutna. He and
Rav Tzvi Yehudah were together in jail after being arrested in Germany during
World War One for being Russian citizens.
Ha-Rav of Kutna requests: Can his honor help me make Aliyah? I fear assimilation. I know that I am G-d-fearing, as is my son
and grandson, but what will be with my great-grandson? At that time is was almost impossible to make
Aliyah without a livelihood. One would
literally starve to death. He writes: I
am a Rosh Yeshiva, Rav of a City, and an Av Beit Din. If his honor can find me a job as an
elementary school teacher, I will come right away. It is preferable to be an elementary school
teacher here than an important Rabbi there.
One
can raise a difficulty: If this is so, why didn't the Amoraim make Aliyah? The Gemara in Megilah (16a with Rashi) was
already surprised: Why didn't Ezra make Aliyah with Zerubavel? The Gemara answers that as long as Baruch Ben
Ner (Ezra's teacher) was alive, he did not make Aliyah. And it is explained in Shir Ha-Shirim Rabbah
(5:5) that Baruch Ben Ner did not make Aliyah because he was elderly and
ill. In Shut Terumat Ha-Deshen (Pesakim
#88), it is explained that the Torah scholars remained in Exile in order to
learn and teach Torah. After all, it is
permissible to leave Eretz Yisrael to learn Torah (Rambam, Hilchot Melachim
5:9), and all the more so to remain outside of Israel to do so.
If
so, this appears to be the opposite of all that we said before: that it is
preferable to be a regular Jew in Eretz Yisrael then a Rabbi outside of Eretz
Yisrael. But this is not the question we
asked. We did NOT ask if it is preferable
to be outside of Israel and learn Torah or to be in Eretz Yisrael and not learn
Torah at all. Rather we asked whether it
is better to be a Rabbi there or to be here and not be a Rabbi, but still to
learn Torah. During the time of the
Amoraim, it was impossible to learn Torah in Eretz Yisrael. How then was Rabbi Yochanan here? We truthfully do not know… We know that Rabbi Yochanan and Ilfa learned
in Yeshiva in Eretz Yisrael and did not have anything to eat. They decided to leave Yeshiva for business. On the way, they sat under a delapidated
wall, and Rabbi Yochanan overheard one angel saying to another that they should
push the wall on to them, as they were leaving eternal life for temporal
life. Rabbi Yochanan asked Ilfa if he
heard what was said, and he did not. He
said: If that is so, it is meant for me, I am returning to the Yeshivah (Taanit
21b). It was almost impossible to
survive. What did Rabbi Yochanan
eat? How did he survive? We do not know.
The
Gemara (Gittin 6b) relates that the Sages said to Rav Yehudah that one who
makes Aliyah from Bavel to Eretz Yisrael "gave children for a harlot's
fee" (Yoel 4:3). In other words, one
who was here did not make enough to support his children. People made Aliyah and left their families
behind, and the family suffered. But now
– Baruch Hashem, it is possible to learn Torah here. Most Rabbis who make Aliyah will not function
as Rabbis here since there are many Rabbis here. In general, it is extremely difficult for a
Rabbi from outside of Eretz Yisrael to become a Rabbi here.
Perhaps
you will say that if all the Rabbis make Aliyah, there won't be any Torah
learning outside of Israel. I once
attended an RCA – Rabbinical Council of America – conference. I happened to be in America, and they invited
me to come as an observer. Ha-Rav
Herschel Schachter gave a class on whether it is preferable to make Aliyah or
to be a communal Rabbi. He gave a long
class and concluded that it is preferable to make Aliyah (Rav Schachter also
wrote this is Moreshet vol. 1, 1.
Although see Nefesh Ha-Rac, pp. 98-99).
At the end, he humbly said: "I don't know what I am doing
here". I innocently said: "If
Ha-Rav abandons his community, they won't have a Rabbi?" He said to me that for every Rabbi in
America, there is a line of Rabbis waiting to take his place... (see if this is
indeed a condition in Shut Avnei Nezer Yoreh Deah #454 and Shut Teshuvot
Ve-Hanhagot 2:465, 3:281).
We
are not discussing Gedolei Yisrael who have made calculations as to whether to
stay in the Exile or make Aliyah. For
example, Maran Ha-Rav Kook offered to help Ha-Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzinski set up
a Rabbinate in Eretz Yisrael, but he wrote that it was difficult for him to
abandon the orphaned generation in his area and the Yeshivot (Chayei
Ha-Re'eiyah, pp. 3870388. See Shut
Maharam Shick, Yoreh Deah 225, 227 that many places in the Exile are like a
sinking ship and one must save the passengers. The captain cannot abandon the
ship). Similarly, Ha-Rav Tzvi Hirscher
Kalisher writes that Ha-Rav Akiva Eiger wanted to make Aliyah at the end of his
life, but his students told him that if he abandoned the country, the
generation would be lost, and this is indeed what happened after his death
(Shivat Tzion, Kitvei Hagartz"ah, letter #2). And we have heard that Ha-Rav Schachter
himself once met the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Ha-Rav Avraham Shapira, and related
all of his different responsibilites, and Ha-Rav Shapira told him that he was
obligated to remain in America.
A
Torah scholar from America once asked Rabbenu Ha-Rav Tzvi Yehudah: Should I
make Aliyah now, or is it preferable to continue in education in America, where
I have command of the language, am familiar with the youth and can have more
success? Rabbenu Ha-Rav Tzvi Yehudah
answered him: "Make Aliyah, and then ask me." This is in fact what happened: the Torah
scholar made Aliyah and then came to ask.
Rabbenu answered that the home of every Jew is Eretz Yisrael. When a person is established here, there is
room to consider the possibility of leaving for a few years in order to spread
Torah and be involved in education (Masmi'a Yeshu'ah, p. 243).
Therefore,
quite simply, it is certainly preferable to be a regular Jew in Eretz Yisrael
than a Rabbi outside of Israel, as is says in the Yerushalami (Nedarim 6:3):
"The Holy One Blessed Be He says: A small group in Eretz Yisrael is more
beloved to me than the Sanhedrin outside of Israel".
