Rabbi Yaakov
Goldberg
Rosh HaYeshivah
Many young men come
Hadar Hatorah with professional backgrounds – professors, doctors, lawyers,
computer analysts. Others are still finishing their degrees and are taking a
leave of absence to come to learn in yeshiva. Whatever the case, they come to
explore their Jewish identity and values before going back to resume their
career in whatever they had originally started.
Whether they come for
a long period of time, or a YeshivaCation or just for shabbos, their time in
Hadar Hatorah will enable them – even after they go continue their
professional career – to establish firm values in life and to have their
priorities in order, to be sure to lead a life conducive to Torah and mitzvos
and Chasidic values. Simply put, to live a life that fulfills the true purpose
for which their soul was sent to this Earth.
This may be better
explained by an analogy. It was after the Peace Accord with the Egyptians in
1979, and the Israeli government was forced to evacuate the Sinai Desert
leaving behind everything, including a very sophisticated military airport
they had built while there. The American government was pressuring them to
leave it all and re-settle somewhere in the Negev. The Americans promised that
they would help build a new airport and that they would pay for the whole
project. They even sent a couple thousand American workers, a whole staff of
engineers, architects and the like, to help re-locate and build the airport
and other installations.
Now, in order to help
all of these American workers adapt and feel comfortable while doing their
work in the middle of the desert, the Israeli government established many
leisure and entertainment centers for the Americans which were to be made
available at a minimal cost or even for free. This was supposed to be as an
incentive for the American visitors to work hard and do a good job – to feel
comfortable in a foreign country.
A short while later
it was proven that the workers were abusing their privileges and had actually
spent their time enjoying themselves so much that they had neglected the whole
job for which they were sent. The government was forced to fire all the
American staff, send them back home, and replace them with sincere,
responsible workers to do the job properly and seriously.
The neshama was sent
to this earth for a mission – to make a dwelling place for Hashem on this
earth. This is done by learning Torah and doing mitzvos, and conducting
oneself in accordance with the ways of Torah as enlightened by Chassidus. But
the neshama finds herself in a foreign place, in a finite, material body in a
physical world. There is a real need to make a living, to have a profession
and a career. But you can never forget your real purpose for being in this
world, to make a dwelling place here for G-d, which ultimately means bringing
Moshiach, which will be speedily in our times.
