Learning or Working. What Some Rabbis say (Part I)

We've been discussing the matzav in the olam haYeshivos lately, and naturally that has led to some heated discussions here. Some of you have proposed going back to the old system, where only those who were suitable continued in Yeshivos after their Bar Mitzvah. Others decried the selective way that yeshivos accept or reject bochurim. And naturally the kolel way of life gets thrown in as well. The fact that the first letter comes from Reb Osher Stoliner (the first) is especially interesting, since most of Stolin today is kolel yungeleit - or stam Orimeleit who don't work for whatever reason. And I'm talking about American Stolin, not in Eretz Yisroel. That may have something to do with the fact that most of American Stolin is ex-Litvishe who learned in Stoliner Cheder as children and stayed there, becoming Stolin in America. I guess the only way to keep them in Stolin was to tell them that they could continue their Litvishe way of life, complete with Kolel 4ever. Everything else was a bonus - the geshmake davenen, etc. It was a win-win situation. back then there was no Tiferes Elimelech or "The Cheder;" if you wanted a frum cheder - but not Chassidish - Stolin may have been your only choice, which is a big reason for the growth of Stolin in America. The Yodei Dovor say that the חסר at the end of the letter is not really so, that the letter was too "sharf" to be printed, presumably because he knocks the lomdim who don't work. They also say that the חסר is "out there," and that I should to get my hands on it.

Click on the images to enlarge