4 Responses

1. In all fairness, there is no halachic basis for the “minhag” of goofing off and taking vacations during Bein ha-zmanim. From a halachic perspective, this really has nothing to do with the current war.

2. Previously, HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky Shlita called on the tzibur to be mispallel for IDF soldiers during Operation Protective Edge as well as increasing limud Torah as the IDF counter-terrorism operation in Gaza continues.

   In addition, as the article indicates, the The Moetzas Gedolei Hatorah of Agudas Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael is asking that yeshivas cancel bein hazmanim plans and continue seder limudim during the vacation period. The rebbes of Gur, Belz, Vizhnitz and Sanz have also cancelled summer vacation so that its bochrim learn instead.

   Nonetheless, WIY and GG among other posters want yeshiva bochrim to relax a bit and get a breather. Rather than learning and davining, they insist that there’s no greater chizuk than making tzitzis for the IDF during their vacation time. They castigated me earlier for asserting that it is a bigger z’chus and chizuk for bochrim to learn or to say t’hilim than producing tzitzis.

   Again, there can be no breaks from Torah, especially when your profession is learning and certainly not when Jewish hearts are bleeding. To and IDF soldier, I’m sure that there’s no greater chizuk than that.

3. Taking a “little break” from a Ben Torah’s regular rigorous schedule (I don’t like the term “vacation”) DURING “NORMAL” SITUATIONS is healthy & recommended throughout history. The biggest Gedolim (there are famous pictures of Reb Baruch Ber, Reb Aaron, Reb Chaim Ozer, etc, etc… talking in learning in a relaxed atmosphere with trees in the background) took little breaks in order to recharge the batteries to come back fresh and reenergized. My parents once spent part of a summer with Reb Moshe Feinstein ZT”L up in Fleishmans NY. This notion by some of these armchair Baalabatim commentators, that only Bnei Torah should never ever take a break, is as phoney and Anti Torah as they come! Its interesting that these same HATERS of Torah don’t work at their “job” 7 days a week all year round without ever taking a VACATION! When was the last time a Yeshiva Gedolah closed because of some Legal Holiday? When was the last time a Yeshiva Gedolah closed because of Mid Winter break? For you HATERS of Torah, there is no hope! You will fall together with the enemy!

4. During Milchemes yom kippur, they canceled Bein Hazemanim ,and the long term effects were poor