This kind of attitude has a further effect: it causes us to downplay the seriousness of speaking lashon hara and devarim beteilim. People feel that after all, they still carry the good name of a ben Torah.
Consequently, the very fact that we have yeshivos makes us feel as if things are okay, even when they aren’t.
We must be extremely careful lest things get to the point where it will be necessary chas v’shalom to take the yeshivos away from us, as was done with the Beis HaMikdash. We all should know that only the yeshivos keep us going and enable us to grow spiritually. However, this is something that demands tremendous effort in Torah learning, coupled with a deep inner connection to HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
And Hashem sends us hints. People may not know this, but in recent years, the Torah world has suffered some very hard knocks. A large portion of the yeshivos were basing most of their funding on a small group of wealthy donors. The heads of Torah institutions would come to these wealthy individuals and receive very significant sums to support Torah learning. But these key donors suddenly went bankrupt. They have nothing to give and are in a truly pitiable state. This is making things very difficult for yeshivos all over, both in Israel and in America. Even massive fundraising campaigns don’t help. They bring in just a small fraction of what used to be raised effortlessly, and the debts are threatening Torah institutions everywhere.
I don’t know the reasons behind the workings of Heaven. But we need to take stock of the situation. It would seem as if Hashem is shouting out to us, “Stop, before it’s too late!”
Besides the financial troubles, other dangers have begun to crop up, problems that we thought were over and done with. People always thought that in America there will never be pogroms like there were in the dark ages of Europe. Then reality came and slapped us on the face. In Los Angeles, the blacks rioted against the government and the police, in the course of which they burnt down homes and killed people. Just like the old-style pogroms!
I have a friend whose daughter’s wedding date fell during the Los Angeles riots, and they had a big wedding event all planned out, but in the end, they were in such fear that they just set up a chuppah in their backyard, attended by a small group. You wouldn’t believe it, but this is happening in “free” America.
It means that Hashem is shouting out to us, “You should know that it’s not just in Poland and Russia. There can be pogroms also in America. So don’t be so complacent!”
I always think to myself, what would happen if chas v’shalom they would close down the yeshivos? Surely we wouldn’t stop learning Torah. We would keep on learning, but we would have to go underground. I think that in such a situation we would not be taking it easy; rather, we would learn as we should. There would be no such thing as bitul Torah.
Why should we let things come to such a dire state? Let’s learn as we should now, while we are still able to do so openly.
