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| Shmuel Roth celebrating the completion of Shas at his Bar Mitzvah (VIN) |
It appears that Benjamin Netanyahu’s grandson, Shmuel Roth is quite the genius. And he is using that genius in furtherance of his Torah study: (His mother is Netanyahu’s oldest daughter, Noa.)
Netanyahu’s grandson is a precocious student who completed the entire Shas Bavli at his Bar Mitzva party.
Shmuel’s melamed (teacher) said at the event that he has been teaching for ten years and has never encountered a child blessed with such genius and talent as Shmuel Roth. The melamed added that Shmuel was incredibly diligent and studied at all times including recess. He began studying Shas Bavli at the age of 10 and completed it at his Bar Mitzva three years later, a remarkable feat.
Indeed it is. Having gone – not that long ago - through Meseches Yevamos, one of the most difficult in all of Shas... let me just say that I can easily testify to how remarkable it is when anyone fully understands even that one Mesechta. Let alone going through and understanding all of Shas. I am glad to have been able to hobble my way through Yevamos – without fully understanding some of it even at its most rudimentary level.
And young Shmuel completed this and other difficult Meschtos by his Bar Mitzvah?! That’s an unbelievingly amazing feat. He must truly be an actual genius. And apparently has the determination and diligence to study it full time – even at a very young pre Bar Mitzvah age.
Does this mean he is the next Gadol HaDor? After all this is the stuff ArtScroll biographies are made of. Just about every one of their ‘Gadol’ biographies describes their early years in a similar manner.
Now it’s quite possible that this is an exaggeration. But even if it isn’t, what someone accomplishes at age 13 does not necessarily predict what he will be like at age 20. Or 30. Or beyond.
Childhood genius alone is not a predictor of success in adulthood. Even if is accompanied by Hasmadah – the diligence to spend long hours pouring over the texts of the Talmud and all the commentaries written over the centuries.
There are other factors that impact one’s future that can easily be counterproductive to achieving great leadership in the Torah world. One of which is unbridled zealotry for a cause that – while on the surface might seem to be the most idealistic approach to it - but in fact will have ruinous consequences. Young Shmuel Roth already has this handicap:
Shmuel studies at Darkei Shmuel a Talmud Torah affiliated with the Jerusalem Faction and named in memory of Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach zts’l, the founder of the faction which broke off from Degel Hatorah and refuses any compromise on military service.
If this is the kind of Chinuch young Shmuel is getting, then in my view he will never be accepted as a leader by the majority of the Charedi world. No matter how much or how deep his Torah knowledge is. At best he will lead an outlier faction.
Another thing. Assuming Netanyahu is not totally estranged from his daughter and her children, I wonder how he feels about this. Netanyahu is not even observant, much less Charedi. And perhaps more importantly he headed (for 12 years) the very government that his grandson’s teachers so bitterly condemn. Is it possible to have pride in a grandson who is influenced by people that so bitterly hate his grandfather and everything he stands for?
Even if Netanyahu were observant, that would be a big ‘ask’. On the other hand blood is thicker than water. Maybe he can parse the pride in his grandson’s achievement while condemning the community that indoctrinates him that way. Something to think about.
I of course can’t speak for Netanyahu. But I can speak as a non Charedi father of a Charedi son and grandchildren. Although the situation is clearly not the same, I take great pride in the achievements of all of my children. Even those to my right that reside philosophically in the Charedi world.
I believe that is the nature of being a good parent. The key to successful parenting is to NEVER ‘straight jacket’ your children into a specific mold. No matter how much you believe that mold is the most correct one. One needs to let their children ‘fly’ on their own and find their own way.
The way to do that is to give them the full panoply of options available to observant Jewry and – with a little bit of parental guidance and the grace of God - let them choose. This is how I raised my children and I could not be prouder of all of them. Each having chosen their own path of observant Judaism.
Young Shmuel Roth was not given options. His path was chosen for him. That doesn’t mean he won’t succeed. But by not giving him options, there is a real risk he may someday find a path more appealing than path he is currently on - but was never aware of. One that will be far from going down the path of becoming a Gadol. Time will tell.
…some of my thoughts.