For over 50 years Rabbi Brovender has taught thousands of students from all around the world. This week we introduce you to Rabbi Daniel Vinik. From Long Beach, NY, Daniel studied at Yeshivat Hamivtar his post high school year, and returned from 5763 to 5766. Daniel studies Torah, works part time and lives in Rehovot with his wife, Racheli Fleisher, and children.
How did you meet Rabbi Brovender?
Is it a stretch to answer that. I feel I meet Rabbi Brovender anew every time we reengage.
What do you find most important or striking about the “Brovender Method” -his unique way of teaching?
At first blush, it appears the full extent of Rabbi Brovender’s advice to aspiring talmidei chachamim can be summed up in a single word -learn. One can and many have wondered how a single imperative amounts to a philosophy. What’s hidden in this sage directive, however, is that Rabbi Brovender quite literally means what he says.
One of the most striking features of the Brovender method is, to my mind, if not entirely negative, at the very least restrictive. It implicitly posits that in order to authentically engage in Torah study, one is called upon to check one’s assumptions, and certainly presumptions, at the door -whether they be intellectual, cultural or emotional. All of this is a precursor to engage in the simple act of Torah study. The method places faith in the Torah herself to do the work it was designed to achieve in each of her laborers.
When it comes to Torah learning, what were you most drawn to after learning with RabbiBrovender?
For myself, what I have become most drawn to over the years, is how Rabbi Brovender extends the special receptive, integrated and penetrating intelligence garnered through the discipleship of Torah la-Amito, and applies it to perennial and newly evolved concerns, interests and responsibilities of a life lived whole.
As formulated by the Belzer Rebbe, Rav Aharon Rokeiach, zechoso yagen aleinu, in short, every Jewish person deserves to be studied as though they were a difficult Rambam. Accepting this charge as entirely to the point, although also assuming that we may expand the domain of the individual Jew to that which pertains to the living concerns and enterprise of human society, science and culture; and provided, of course, that one in fact knows how to learn a Rambam- well, then I feel like we’re operating in the Rosh Yeshiva’s sphere, and can return time and time again to Torat Chaim.
What lesson or specific Torah that you learned from Rabbi Brovender, do you keep coming back to or carry with you wherever you go?
When all is said and done, what ideally brings me back to Torat Chaim veChessed, is RabbiBrovender’s pursuit and realization of the supreme Jewish virtues of Love, Simplicity, Honesty,Humor and Joy- i.e. the Romance of engaging independently and communally in an authentic relationship with the Most Supreme Reality, incorporating and integrating all that is available le-hagdil Torah u-le-hadera.
Yet, given all the twists and turns, trials and tribulations, that I, and I think many experience in the modern world today, it would be foolish to ignore a feature of Rabbi Brovender’s teaching that has been steadfast, and helps anchor a Torah-true life in the midst of so much complexity and yes, confusion. That is, his Yirat Shamayim.
First off, one cannot withstand all the pressures, influences and seductions of our finite condition, with an ever-expanding list of needs (real, perceived or imagined), if one fears them(or more precisely fears being without them). One simply cannot maintain a subtle and complex position if one fears being misunderstood. One cannot take seriously and pursue passionately extra-ordinary facets of learning, tradition, history, consciousness and humanity if they fear being considered foolish, mocked, left behind, shunned or forgotten.
Furthermore, one cannot help other human beings attain greater growth, success and happiness if they fear those people’s own frailties and struggles. As it is natural and healthy for human beings to acknowledge their finitude and limitation, and reasonable to hope and desire only the best for those they love, where then to turn? The only sane living option left, is cultivating real Yirat Shamayim, a complete faith and trust that the RibbonO-shel-Olam has given us the immense responsibility and privilege of living on this earth with the opportunity to fulfill His Torah and Mitzvah- לטוב לך.
Rabbi Brovender has embodied time and time again this yira. That in the most extraordinary of circumstances, and perhaps more importantly, within the fine details of daily life, in all its guises, over the course of a full term of Gevura לא אירע רע- כי אתה עמדי There’s a reason Yirat Shamayim comes first, and in an age when the only defense against rampant fear seems to be the offense of retribution, even amongst generally well-intentioned people, I feel extraordinarily fortunate to have access to the Rosh Yeshiva’s cultivated vantage point, one that aides me in regularly redirecting my energy, concerns, concentration and commitments away from the tafel and always back to the ikar- learn.
Great comments, Daniel!