At a special gathering organized by the “Chelki VeTorasi” movement for working yeshiva graduates, the Slabodka Rosh Yeshiva, Maran Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, sharply criticized the classification and hierarchy that has emerged among some within the chareidi community. He stated emphatically that the label “second-class” for a working chareidi is completely incorrect.
The event, held in Rav Hirsch’s home, brought together rabbanim and organizers of Chelki VeTorasi, a group founded to support yeshiva graduates who have entered the workforce.
During the gathering, Rav Hirsch was asked: “Sometimes, the kollel community and the older shul members label the ‘Chelki’ community as second-class. Should we be concerned about this, or should we just do what is right for us without worrying about how others view us?”
The Rosh Yeshiva responded: “Look, it is not second-class. There’s a major difference between second-class and differences in status, like between a Kohein and a Levi — the Kohein gets called first, the Levi second, and the talmid chacham third. But no one views that as second-class.
“The ben Torah, the kollel yungerman, who doesn’t get the third aliyah doesn’t see himself as second-class because he didn’t get that honor. The Levi who isn’t called first isn’t second-class — he is first-class too. There are levels, yes, but everyone is first-class.”
Rav Hirsch further elaborated: “Of course, someone who learns Torah full-time is on a higher madrigah than a baal habayis (working man), but it is still a higher level within first-class. Like a Kohein and a Levi, a third and a fourth — it’s levels, not classes. The term ‘second-class’ is completely wrong; it implies something invalid. There is no second-class at all. We are all first-class, with different levels within that.”
{Matzav.com Israel}