[Avodah] Horaas Shaah

[Micha Berger]

(This is the post I thought I already completed when I recently referred
the chevrah to an earlier post about RBBL's position on what RSRH must
have meant, as opposed to his giving it as his own opinion of TIDE.)

On Tue, Dec 16, 2008 at 08:52:41PM -0500, Moshe Y. Gluck wrote:
: R' MB:
: Clearly RBBL didn't know German, and little of RSRH's writings were
: available in Hebrew.
...
: daresay that both RSRH and RBBL were well qualified in that regard,
: and their disagreement (if, indeed, RSRH did not mean TIDE as HS)
: is a manifestation of Shivim Panim, rather than, CV, RBBL's implied
: ignorance/carelessness.

I would have fully agreed had RBBL written that he could only support
TIDE as a HS. However, he assigned this position to RSRH. And /that/ I
can only conclude was because RBBL had to rely on second-hand sources.

It is impossible to read much RSRH and still conclude that he intended
to make a hora'as sha'ah. E.g. Collected Writings VI 392-3:

    Ever since we have begun to make our modest contribution to the
    Jewish cause by speech, pen and deed, it was and is our wholehearted
    endeavor to present and advocate the most intimate union between
    Judaism -- total, unadulterated Judaism -- and the spirit of all
    true science and knowledge... we maintain that our whole future,
    with all ideo- logical and social problems the solution of which
    is eagerly awaited by mankind, belongs to Judaism, full, unabridged
    Juda- ism... because we can view the welfare and future of Judaism
    only in the framework of the most intimate union with the spirit
    of true science and knowledge of every age, we are the most out-
    spoken foes of all false science and knowledge, foes of every at-
    tempt, in the guise of science, to lay the ax to the roots of our
    Jewish Sanctuary... for if there were no alternative and we had only
    the choice between Judaism and Science, then there simply would be no
    choice and every Jew would unhesitatingly make his decision... rather
    to be, a Jew without science than Science without Judaism. But,
    thank God, this is not the case...

The entire idiom of Israel-Mensch.

The 16th Letter of 19 Letters, "Emancipation".

His commentary on "Yaft E-lokim leYefes".

To R' Hirsch, TIDE is what living the Torah is supposed to be, and the
alternatives only emerged when ghettoization left us no opportunity to
be full Jews.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             The purely righteous do not complain about evil,
micha at aishdas.org        but add justice, don't complain about heresy,
http://www.aishdas.org   but add faith, don't complain about ignorance,
Fax: (270) 514-1507      but add wisdom.     - R AY Kook, Arpilei Tohar