Baltimore was once a candidate for being a Torah center. It had in it a Torah sage.
For some reason it seems to me that it is harder to make a place of Torah than meets the eye.
Apparently it is not just a matter of throwing money at someone who is claiming to be learning Torah.
I never realized this. I was in a Baal Teshuva Yeshiva in NY that by all rights should not have been a Torah center. It might have been some place intent on brainwashing collage kids. But for some odd reason it turned out in fact to be place of Torah. This was Rav Freifeld's place Shar Yashuv.One possible reason might have been the teachers. Naphtali Yeger, Rav Forest, Rav Rabinovitz, each a Torah giant in their own right.
And of course Brooklyn was blessed with authentic sages. Rav Hutner, Rav Kalmanovitch, Shmuel Berenbaum etc. So it does seem that to make a place of Torah you really need a Torah sage. You can't just throw money at a bunch of nobodies and expect results. Israel would seem to be a good example of this phenomenon. Bnei Brak is well known as a Torah center. It would seem to be no accident that the greatest sage of that generation, Rav Shach was there. [Take a look at his Avi Ezri and you will see what I mean.]
I never realized this. I was in a Baal Teshuva Yeshiva in NY that by all rights should not have been a Torah center. It might have been some place intent on brainwashing collage kids. But for some odd reason it turned out in fact to be place of Torah. This was Rav Freifeld's place Shar Yashuv.One possible reason might have been the teachers. Naphtali Yeger, Rav Forest, Rav Rabinovitz, each a Torah giant in their own right.
And of course Brooklyn was blessed with authentic sages. Rav Hutner, Rav Kalmanovitch, Shmuel Berenbaum etc. So it does seem that to make a place of Torah you really need a Torah sage. You can't just throw money at a bunch of nobodies and expect results. Israel would seem to be a good example of this phenomenon. Bnei Brak is well known as a Torah center. It would seem to be no accident that the greatest sage of that generation, Rav Shach was there. [Take a look at his Avi Ezri and you will see what I mean.]
