All passersby at the entrance to the Beit Vegan neighborhood over the past week could see every morning how young men and young women were arriving and gathering around a guesthouse in the neighborhood, buses unloading Torah students who had arrived and come to participate in the Chief Rabbinate of Israel exams.
Those Torah scholars who dedicate themselves to studying Torah and Halacha every day for many years, and perhaps do not receive sufficient recognition.
After all, anyone who has taken the various exam tracks knows that the chance that the sun will shine at night is greater than their chances of winning one position or another, so the enormous investment is for heaven's sake in the fullest sense of the word.
We are used to hearing about the exams only when there are problems. But have we ever thought, have we ever known how to appreciate the hundreds and thousands who dedicate all their time and blood to being among the "rabbinical examinees"?
How much effort, how much investment, do we know how to give the Torah labors their due place?
This week, for the first time, a small step was taken by the State of Israel to recognize these certificates, as equivalent to a degree in civil service.
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""Rabbi said, 'A person does not learn Torah except from where his heart desires. As it is said, 'For if in the Torah of the Lord he delights' (Psalms 1:2). Levi and Rabbi Shimon, Rabbi's son, sat down to study before Rabbi, and completed their study. Then they discussed what to continue studying. Levi wanted to study the Book of Proverbs, and Rabbi Shimon wanted to study the Book of Psalms. They forced Levi to study the Psalms. When they reached the verse, 'For if in the Torah of the Lord he delights', Rabbi interpreted and said, 'A person does not learn Torah except from where his heart desires.' Levi said to him, 'Rabbi, you gave us permission to stand.'".
On one of the exam days, I found myself at the entrance, when on one side was a not-so-young young man carrying several years of non-stop study behind him, along with a huge suitcase full of books on his way to the Dayan exams, and on the other side was a young man on his way to the kashrut exams, when this was his first time taking the exam (the last time was in eighth grade...)
Both are excited, stressed, after days and nights of preparing, working, studying, doing everything they can to arrive on the appointed day, ready and worthy of successfully passing the exam.
Then the young man says to me: Just standing here and watching the moving spectacle gives you the feeling that yes, I too can, sharpens the ambition to enter the world of Halacha more strongly, to be among those who complete the exam tracks that take years.
That young man who in all his last years did not think that his future would be within the walls of a seminary, suddenly found his place, found his "heart's desire.".
And he is not alone. With him was a large group of young Torah scholars who came together for their first exam, and the exam is not just about Halacha, it is a certificate of recognition of the ability to learn, of abilities they did not know existed, of the possibility of believing in yourself, and of vast and broad knowledge that other people their age may not know.
And perhaps especially about young men who found their part in Torah, found where they connect, and found true meaning, satisfaction, and challenge.
'"'And give us our portion in your law.'"'
• Hechot is the head of the Torah and Halacha seminary.'
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