A Home, Not a Jail

Prepared for print by Rabbi Eran Feintuch

A non-Jewish man walked past a yeshivah every morning on his way to work. Day after day, he saw the boys through the windows, and found it peculiar that he never saw any boys leaving. On his way home in the evening, it was the same thing. Even when he happened to pass by at different hours, the boys were there. He quickly concluded that it was a detention center for juvenile delinquents. Then one day he saw a boy walking into the yeshivah with a smile, not handcuffed or escorted by police officers.

“What is this place?” the man asked, bewildered.

“A yeshivah,” the boy replied.

“I don’t know what that is,” said the man, “but if it’s not a jail, why don’t you boys ever leave?”

“Because,” replied the boy, “it’s our home! Why should we want to leave?”