Rav Ezriel Hildesheimer was one of the big German gedolim that saved German Jewry from the enlightenment movement in the mid 1800s. Together with gedolim like Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch he implemented the yeshiva system of 'torah im derech eretz' where as part of the yeshiva curriculum they taught secular studies. For twelve years he was the head of the Yeshiva in Eisenstadt, Hungary. He was just the third German rav to be appointed rav in Hungary, and was the first one to open a yeshiva in Hungary that taught 'Torah im derech eretz'.
A certain rabbi, one of Rav Hildesheimer's own friends, was visiting the yeshiva. He was also present when secular instruction was being given. "We often speak of you," said the guest, "and we ask ourselves how you find time for lessons in secular subjects". "The time you spend speaking about me I use for teaching these general subjects, without detriment to my shiurim", answered Rav Hildesheimer.
4 comments:
reb mendel kaplan used to say if your a masmid your a mamid at everything and if your a batlan your a batlan at everything
and i think the gra says that if someone learns torah lishma his day expands and there is more time in his day than the regular 24 hours
if you put the 2 together it sort of makes sense to be this way
That's what Reb Yossi (formerly R' Yosef) used to tell me: if you want to get something done give it to a busy person!
Interesting story! Yasher koach
i love those guys with those sharp lines.
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