Torah Only? Torah Im Derech Eretz? ft. Rav Rafi Dembovsky

From Shtark Tank with Yaakov Wolff by Yaakov Wolff.

• Published: Mon, 01 Jun 2026 04:10:00 GMT
• Duration: 00:34:00
• Audio: https://anchor.fm/s/e45c8048/podcast/play/120805471/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-4-31%2F425241136-44100-2-f4463316ca334.mp3
• Page: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/yaakov-wolff/episodes/Torah-Only--Torah-Im-Derech-Eretz--ft--Rav-Rafi-Dembovsky-e3k56kv
• TorahApp: https://torahapp.org/share/p/3P_shtark_tank/e/f33007af-6514-494f-8efb-627e0aca759c

What does Hashem actually want from us, a life of total immersion in Torah, or engagement with the world?This is one of the oldest machlokos in Jewish thought.

And Rav Rafi Dembovsky was torn.

He struggled with the issues, and wrote a book with his findings.

You can order it here.

Episode Description

Rafi was raised in Edgware. Educated at Hasmonean. Spent years all-in at Torah-only yeshivos and kollel. Then came time to choose a school for his son — and the tension he'd quietly carried for years exploded into a full-blown existential question.

So he went back to the sources. And wrote a sefer.

We trace Rafi's personal journey alongside the intellectual one — from teenage brachos in Bnei Brak to law school at Hebrew University. We get into the sefer itself, the haskama drama, and the Rabbanim who quietly loved it but wouldn't sign their names.

In this episode:

• Torah-only as a mindset, not just a lifestyle choice
• The Rashbi/Rabi Yishmael machlokes — and what it really means for how you live
• Why the Rambam wasn't who you think he was
• The four-point email telling him not to publish — and what he did next
• Leaving kollel for law school: pshat or cop-out?