An Excerpt from Vetinok Lelamdo Sefer

Another weak argument against secular education that we hear again and again is that Torah sharpens the mind as effectively as a college degree does. Here’s how it goes: many academic disciplines aren’t useful or practical, yet their graduates are successful (sometimes even more so than graduates of vocational programs)—so why should the Torah be any different? There’s an element of truth to this argument that I’ll elaborate on further down. But with respect to making an income, though, this argument is a weak and superficial one.

First of all, toiling over a Gemara night and day isn’t an excuse for not knowing how to write properly (as we know all too well is the case with many of our “scholars”). Nor is it any excuse for not speaking English properly, for not being competent in basic math, or for wandering aimlessly as an adult with what barely passes for a twelve year old’s vocabulary.

On top of that, those who succeed in business are, more often than not, the weaker Talmud students. In fact, some are total ignoramuses—it’s precisely the failure to become a successful student that drives them to enter business in the first place. What’s more, it’s the opposite with those who are actually strong in Gemara—they often have a more academic bent, without any of the “business acumen” their studies supposedly help develop. “Torah and wealth in one place” ^{2 2} Talmud Bavli Gittin 59a. (Translator’s Note) is an illustrious label precisely because of the rarity of what it describes…

The lack of consistency is glaring. Apologists will argue that the the ultimate goal of “Toraso Umanuso” ^{3 3} Talmud Bavli Shabbat 11a. (Translator’s Note) (Torah as a sole occupation) justifies a lack of secular studies: children should be prepared for a life of toiling only in Torah, day and night, with faith that divine providence will cover the rest. But when it’s convenient, they make the opposite argument: that Torah provides just as much practical training as secular studies do.

These claims are obviously in conflict. If Torah study is our very lifeblood and we toil in it while trusting that God will provide, then Torah is no substitute for secular studies; Torah is to be learned because it is a mitzvah. This is why we drudge away at it, even if all it brings is “mikomon shel zevochim”. ^{4 4} “The locations of offerings” Mishnah Zevachim 5:1 . “The locations of offerings” is a metonym for highly detailed spiritual work. (Translator’s Note) This bifurcated way of thinking—that Torah study is at once cosmically obligatory for its own sake and a means to a practical end—results in a botched doublethink that only weakens the whole argument.

If the claim is that Torah is actually a replacement for secular studies, and that by learning it we absorb the sum total of the world’s knowledge, we should ask ourselves if there isn’t a better way of acquiring that knowledge. If it could be shown (as it inevitably can) that a person’s talents would be better developed by proper exposure to secular studies, then our apologists would have to admit defeat against their will, and sit themselves down to labor over algebra or the DNA helix.

What’s more, the argument that Torah prepares us for making a living, even if it were true, is all well and good—but only when it comes to the academically-minded. For them, it may indeed be the case that Torah learning isn’t any different than the academic study of criminal and civil law. The Gemara itself states “harotzeh sheyakhkim, ya’asok bedinei mamonos” ^{5 5} “One who wants to become wise should engage in the study of monetary law,” Mishnah Bava Batra 10:8. (Translator’s Note) : certain tractates can sharpen the mind, and that sharpness could be applied to other things.

The problem, however, is that not everyone is talented enough to be a lawyer with a penchant for complicated texts and acrobatic argumentation. In the world at large there’s a dazzling array of disciplines—medicine, physics, chemistry, history, literature, social science, and hundreds of others, each leading to hundreds more. But for a cheder-boy, a yeshiva-bochur, or a kollel-yungerman, there is merely one path—the law—and the only choice is which branch to study. Moreover, most talmudic laws have no application to modern life, and their study is of little practical use.

So, if the Gemara is as good as any other education, then what occupation is left for those talented students who don’t have a head for the law? Do we just write them off? Don’t they deserve to make a living in the world? On top of that, many of those who are suited to studying law also give up, because even they can’t spend every hour of every day studying one impractical document. Attorneys in this country study many other subjects before they start studying law, while our “Gemara-lawyers” are confined to the Talmud’s narrow legal conundrums.

Finally, there’s a more general argument to consider. We’re part of society at large, and the nation’s economy needs productive and knowledgeable citizens. “Lamah nigara?” Why opt out? ^{6 6} Numbers 9:7. (Translator’s Note) We benefit from the state, so we must contribute to it. A modern country and its economy need engineers, mathematicians, programmers and many other experts. As citizens of our country, we too have a moral duty to contribute to its science and its knowledge, and to prepare our children for the future—for the sake of the greater good.