[Avodah] Horaas Shaah

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, Dec 17, 2008 at 01:06:40PM -0500, R Davidovich wrote:
: I think people misunderstand other people's misunderstanding of RSRH's Torah
: Im Derech Eretz (TIDE) model.
: Proponents of TIDE think the chareidi perception is that RSRH only intended
: it as a Horaas Shaah.
: I think the Israeli and Lakewood Chareidi perception is that TIDE WAS a
: horaas shaah, suited to German Jewry's needs, regardless of how RSRH viewed
: it.

This latter position, however, is not what RBBL wrote RSS. As per above.

That said, there are two ways one could view hora'as sha'ah:
1- One could see it as a suboptimal solution necessary for survival;
now isn't the time to stand on every ideal or none will survive. Eis
la'asos Lashem.

Or:
2- One could see it as the best possible solution, an expression of the
Torah's ideal, given a suboptimal reality.

RARRakeffet suggested that there is no indication that RYBS meant MO as
the ideal, or as the ideal for this imperfect reality. His perception
was that RYBS would have been happier in a world where Brisk never
fell, but given that we're forced to confront modernity, we must do so
wholeheartedly and by growing through that dialectical tension. We argued
this before, with sources brought to show that RYBS did think MO was the
ideal the Torah described. Still RARR had a relationship with RYBS that
spenned decades, and I won't assume he was wrong without even asking
him about those same meqoros. (Of course, I could have misunderstood
the shiur, too.)

In any case, whether or not it's possible that's what RYBS meant, is
it (Torah-and as the best solution for an imperfect present reality)
not worth consideration as a biable derekh altogether? RYHaber (CC-ed)
was recently interviewed by Horizon Magazine. See the copy on his blog
at <http://www.torahlab.org/haberblog/klal_yisrael_at_risk/>. It opens:

> Horizons: I just recently came across another warning against the dangers
> of the internet to the spiritual wellbeing of our children. Maybe we
> can begin our discussion by asking how much is the internet to blame for
> "kids at risk"? Or is that merely scapegoating?

> Rabbi Haber: The internet has proven to be capable of a great amount of
> damage to Jews of all ages. However, it is important to remember that
> the internet is a reality. There will come a time in the not-so-distant
> future when it will be impossible to pay a bill, bank, make a phone
> call or even turn on a light in your house without using the Internet.
> Instead of forbidding the Internet and non-kosher cell phones, it would
> seem to be more prudent to teach students how to interact with the
> Internet responsibly. If we were to forbid everything that we can use
> the wrong way we must include cars, mp3 players, and for that matter
> -- women! We have to be very careful with internet technology -- but
> forbidding it is not the answer in the long term.

> When a teenager leaves us for a more exciting lifestyle, we have to
> ask ourselves why they are not finding that excitement in our homes and
> communities. In his remarkable sefer, Tzav V'Ziruz, the Piacezner Rebbe
> teaches an important lesson in education: Nature abhors a vacuum. The
> sustenance of the neshama is regesh (emotion). The neshama wants to be
> filled with a regesh of kedushah. If it doesn't find kedusha, it will
> search for any form of regesh, even violent or disgusting regesh. We
> have to fill our children's neshamos with healthy Torah regesh. Then
> the urge to look elsewhere will disappear.

Notice this isn't a blind statement about the wonderful value of
modernity. It's about accepting the fact that confrontation is inevitable,
and therefore we must develop a derekh that shows our youth how to win
that battle.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

PS: Please do not conclude from the above that this is my own approach
to modernity.

-- 
Micha Berger                 Life is complex.
micha at aishdas.org                Decisions are complex.
http://www.aishdas.org               The Torah is complex.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                                - R' Binyamin Hecht