Gedolim and the Importance of Elitism

And yet when the Charedi world mentions ‘Daas Torah’ you can see why they are called Charedim. They seem go venerate them as though they equaled the Gedolim of the past. 

The argument is that each generation must honor their Gedolim  regardless of how ‘small’  they are compared  to previous generation. The Gemarah (Rosh Hashana 25b)  actually spells this out: Yoftach B’doro - K’Shmuel B’doro. Of the 2 biblical figures, both were considered leaders of their generation despite Yiftach's spectacularly inferior stature compared to Shmuel. It didn’t matter. They are both to be treated with the same degree of respect as the leader of their respective generation.

I suppose there is a certain logic to that. You need to play the cards your dealt. That said, I find it difficult to give any of today’s rabbinic leaders the same kind of veneration I did to the leaders of yesteryear. At least here in America.  Just to name a few names from the previous generation to illustrate my point, we will likely never see anyone near having the greatness of Rav Yoseph Dov Soloveitchik, Rav Aharon Soloveichik, Rav Aharon Kotler, Rav Ya’akov Kamenetsky, Rav Yitzchok Hutner, Rav Moshe Feinstein, Rav Yoel Tietelbaum, and Rav Menachem Mendel Schneerson. (A very incomplete list to say the least.) Regardless of how anyone feels about any of these Gedolim personally, there can be no doubt about their stature as Gedolim.

It isn’t only the concept of Niskatnu HaDoros at work. Which means that the further away from the events that took place a Sinai the less great we can be.  Although that is surely true, there have been major breaks historically that separated eras. I think a major ‘break’ has occurred in my lifetime between the Gedolim raised in the great yeshivas of Europe pre-Holocaust - and those raised here post Holocaust. Similar to the break which separated Rishonim from Achronim.

The question is, why is that? Why do we not have any Gedolim like that these days.? An attempt at answering that question was made by someone that many people feel is a Gadol in his own right, Rav Moshe Sterbuch. Here in part is what he said from an Arutz Sheva article: 

Rav Sternbuch adds a few other ‘distractions’ today that did not exist in previous generations.

I have to disagree with him. He is right about the dearth of Gedolim today. But in my view he is wrong about the reasons. I’m not even sure how accurate he is about his description of yesteryear. 14 to 16 hours a day of Torah study? 7 days a week? Without interruption? Hard to believe that is even possible. 

But even if it’s true, I think there is a far more obvious reason for what we have today. First of all there are students today that do study long uninterrupted hours. But I doubt the spend a full 16 hours a day, 7 days a week, and doing it for weeks and months at a time! ...without somewhere along the line having a mental breakdown.

The problem today is mass production. Which never produces the kind of quality that results when individual care is given to each product. While I am generally very opposed to elitism, I believe that is exactly what we are missing today. 

Back in pre-Holocaust Europe, only the most elite and brilliant students were invited to attend the great Yeshivos of Europe. There was no such thing as tens of thousands of students studying in yeshivas. Today every Charedi is expected to attend Yeshivos full time well into their married lives. We live in a time of quantity versus quality. When there are that many people learning in Yeshiov you end up with mediocrity as the standard of Torah study. The competition to achieve is therefore lowered as  well. 

The reason we have this scenario now is because of Gemarah that tells us that you throw a 1000 people into a Beis HaMedrash and one will become a Gadol. That everyone else might fall through the cracks and could have been more productive as Jews doing something else might be the price to pay. But it is worth it to get that one Gadol. R’Eliyahu Dessler justifies the process in our own day by saying that the Jewish people needs Gedolim – to ‘lead the way’. Which is exactly how the Charedi world operates. Every single male is indoctrinated - and expected - to go to Yeshiva full time well into their married lives.

But even if you agree with Rav Dessler, it is one thing to throw a 1000 students into the Beis HaMedrash. It is another to throw every single male into the Beis HaMedrash - from early childhood  well into adulthood - resulting in tens of thousands or more doing it. You are not ‘sacrificing a thousand’. You are sacrificing everyone!

I truly believe that if the Yeshiva system would return to being elitist, and invite only those with the potential to become Gedolim to learn at that level, the overall quality of Torah study would be raised immensely. The competition would reach unprecedented heights post Holocaust. Mediocrity would no longer rule the day. 

The rest of us would be encouraged to find their own personal niche in serving God  and educated accordingly. they would still all study in Yeshivos. But that study would be accompanied by a focus on the multitude of studies available in the word where each jew could find his own unique way of serving God. Which would of course include working at a job that would provide a decent income for their families.

Alas, that is not the case today at all. Today we have quantity over quality. Sure - there are some bright stars among those tens of thousands of students. But imagine how those stars would shine given the kind of elitist atmosphere that existed pre-Holocaust. I believe they would thrive at levels not seen since before the Holocaust.

That is why we have so few Gedolim today. And why those we do have do not measure up to the Gedolim of even the immediate past.

Just my off the cuff reaction to Rav Sternbuch.