There are people for which going to yeshiva would be step up. There are others for whom it would be a step down.
If one has the opportunity to go to university and learn an honest profession then leaving that to go to yeshiva full time is a step down. There is no opinion that one can use the Torah to make money as modern yeshivas are. כל תורה שאין עמה מלאכה סופה בטילה "All Torah that is without a job is worthless." That is a statement from the son of Yehuda HaNasi. And I have definitely seen this in every person that is in kollel. They are a completely worthless bunch of sanctimonious jerks. Their main job is to get people to give them money. That is their major goal is to create a slave class of people that will support them. Baali Teshuva. (That is to make them depend on the community so they can't escape and to keep them down in menial jobs so they can't rise and have to support the master race, the frum from birth. ) Kollel people are stupid people pretending to be smart and then demanding to be supported for their supposed smartness. There is nothing wrong with being dumb. But fraud is wrong.
Yet in universities there is nothing for students that want to learn about the most basic questions of life: Why are we here? What should we be doing? What is it all about? For that reason learning Torah is important. For that reason learning the Guide for the Perplexed of the Rambam and Gabirol and other Jewish philosophers from the Middle Ages is important. And if the choice would be yeshiva or some cult or dishonest profession then clearly learning Torah and even accepting charity in order to be able to learn is preferable. It really depends on what one's situation is. But f one goes to yeshiva at least it has to be a legitimate Litvak (Lithuanian) place. No cults. And if there are cults on one's area, then the first thing is to run them out of town.
The major thing seems to be that learning Torah is important but when people decide to use it for money it loses it value. And those people along with it. Jewish people are in search of the values of the Torah and there are plenty of charlatans that want to capitalize on their naivety.
If one has the opportunity to go to university and learn an honest profession then leaving that to go to yeshiva full time is a step down. There is no opinion that one can use the Torah to make money as modern yeshivas are. כל תורה שאין עמה מלאכה סופה בטילה "All Torah that is without a job is worthless." That is a statement from the son of Yehuda HaNasi. And I have definitely seen this in every person that is in kollel. They are a completely worthless bunch of sanctimonious jerks. Their main job is to get people to give them money. That is their major goal is to create a slave class of people that will support them. Baali Teshuva. (That is to make them depend on the community so they can't escape and to keep them down in menial jobs so they can't rise and have to support the master race, the frum from birth. ) Kollel people are stupid people pretending to be smart and then demanding to be supported for their supposed smartness. There is nothing wrong with being dumb. But fraud is wrong.
Yet in universities there is nothing for students that want to learn about the most basic questions of life: Why are we here? What should we be doing? What is it all about? For that reason learning Torah is important. For that reason learning the Guide for the Perplexed of the Rambam and Gabirol and other Jewish philosophers from the Middle Ages is important. And if the choice would be yeshiva or some cult or dishonest profession then clearly learning Torah and even accepting charity in order to be able to learn is preferable. It really depends on what one's situation is. But f one goes to yeshiva at least it has to be a legitimate Litvak (Lithuanian) place. No cults. And if there are cults on one's area, then the first thing is to run them out of town.
The major thing seems to be that learning Torah is important but when people decide to use it for money it loses it value. And those people along with it. Jewish people are in search of the values of the Torah and there are plenty of charlatans that want to capitalize on their naivety.
