You see them on their way to yeshiva with the heavy school
bags dangling from their shoulder and several smaller colored
bags filled with goodies that their mother handed them at the
last minute. The sight of young men -- tall or short,
distinguished by a full, medium or skimpy beard -- reminds
you of your youth, of those wonderful days of joy, confusion
and wonder.
As you watch a yeshiva bochur running for the bus, you
feel a twinge of nostalgia and sigh deeply at the thought
that you made it safely through this amazing period in your
life. He is traveling to his home away from home and his
thoughts are full of questions - who will be his
chavrusa, what will his new roommates be like, will
the new zman be stimulating?
Some are going to a new yeshiva and their hopes are tinged
with fear of the unknown. Others are continuing where they
have learned for years and are proud and happy to be back
where they advanced so much in their learning and social
contacts. Still others are dejected because they finished the
last zman on a bad note. On the outside they all look
happy and contented and may even seem light -- headed to the
onlooker. But in reality they are like adults going down the
path towards their future. Some, more introspective, are
aware of this fact, yet others are oblivious to the
importance of this critical period in their lives.
You scrutinize them and pray that they will succeed, knowing
all the while that your intentions are really for yourself,
your generation, and the generations to come. These are our
soldiers going to the battlefield, on their way to conquer
knowledge. They are going to defend us all from spiritual and
physical enemies and to fight against the evil inclination,
ignorance and meaninglessness. They are going to conquer a
world -- actually two: this world and the next.
Not many parents know what goes on in their adolescents'
hearts, just as our parents didn't always know. This lack of
awareness can sometimes lead to a feeling of helplessness.
The parent wants to warn his son of the dangers lurking out
there but feels as if separated by a thick screen. Don't they
hear us out there? Of course they hear us, but like soldiers
at war they are too busy doing battle. It is the daily battle
characteristic of the yeshiva world. If in the army the
soldier is on duty for three years of his life, here in
yeshiva he is on duty for eighteen years of daily routine.
And the commanding officer is usually none other than
himself. Imagine -- is there another place in the world where
a teenage boy is asked to stick to an iron- handed routine
and expand tremendous mental and physical effort in a
learning program which often may not yield obvious or
immediate results?
There are, boruch Hashem, yeshivos where there is
daily contact between the boys and the staff of Rabbonim. The
boys can't fall or falter without someone taking notice. But
in spite of this, the struggle is difficult. Besides the
teaching staff who help form his personality, it's the
environment and especially his group of friends which
motivate the yeshiva bochur to learn with joy and
dedication. The same environment that parents are sometimes
wary of is the glue which binds their son to his framework
and gives him the desire to continue and succeed.
Parents of a boy who appears to them bored and apathetic
cannot imagine how easy-going, friendly and open he is with
his group. On the other hand, perhaps it's not so good if
he's so outgoing and relaxed in yeshiva? If so, then what is
our task? What is the right thing to say and do and when does
all this worrying become self defeating? We are not
embarrassed to admit that we have no ready answers -- and if
that is the case, you wonder, why are we writing all this to
begin with? Simply because the sight of those bochurim
hurrying along to yeshiva with their packs on their shoulders
inspired us to put these thoughts down on paper. We are aware
that they read this column with interest and it's good for
them to know that our thoughts and prayers are with them,
that we worry about them, that we appreciate and admire them.
They are the best of our youth -- our hope for the future and
our continuation: "the Salt of the Earth".
