[Avodah] letter of RSRH

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, Apr 28, 2008 at 01:16:04PM -0400, T613K at aol.com wrote:
: It is a bit anachronistic to speak of Zionism, whether Religious Zionism or  
: the secular variety,  in Germany in the nineteenth century.  There  was no 
: such animal.  Hirsch loved Eretz Yisrael...
: Had he been alive when Zionism really got under way, he would have followed  
: the majority of gedolim and majority da'as Torah, and would not have been a  
: Zionist...

Given your first sentence, I would have to conclude this second paragraph
is conjecture and meaningless.

Bottom line is that RSRH was against Jews trying to redeem themselves
politically or try to bring the ge'ulah through hishtadlus. Add to that
Austritt, and his banning joining Jewish groups that stand behind Isms
that aren't Yahadus.

Someone might take the new realia that emerged after his petirah and
reach the conclusion that RSRH wouldn't have been anti-Zionist (perhaps
only non-Z). But I personally don't see how to construct such a thing.

In any case, such conclusions (pro or neutral or con) are structures
atop RSRH's thought, and shouldn't be projected back to RSRH.

:                                    Overall, it seems to me ...
:                                      that the Hashgacha has a  plan for the 
: Jewish people that includes both a strong Torah-only community in  Eretz 
: Yisrael AND a Torah-plus-work community in chutz la'aretz....

TIDE isn't Torah uParnasah. That's yet another hashkafah.

But why are you limiting Torah-only to EY, and Torah-applied to chul?

...
: A sign of the essential yiras Shamayim of Yekkes in general and Hirschians  
: in particular is that when they do (unfortunately) deviate from TIDE  
: philosophical purity, they tend usually to head right rather than left. I
: speak of their Torah affiliation, not their political views.  

Lo sosuru mikol asher yagidu lekha semol? I seem to remember another bit
to that pasuq.

Yekkes differ toward Litvishkeit because Litta exported its talmud
Torah. That's not a shift to the left or the right, but a shift from
basing avodah on menchlachkeit to basing it on talmud Torah. Calling it
left-vs-right belies the complexity of the differences in thought.

...
: I am totally and absolutely convinced that they are both wrong.  

: What has happened in E'Y in the last hundred years simply cannot be  ignored, 
: cannot be gainsaid, and cannot -- chas vesholom even to say such a  thing -- 
: all be attributed to the workings of the Sitra Achra...

And what does that have to do with my insisting you can't project back
onto what RSRH would have said?


Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Today is the 8th day, which is
micha at aishdas.org        1 week and 1 day in/toward the omer.
http://www.aishdas.org   Chesed sheb'Gevurah: When is holding back a
Fax: (270) 514-1507                           Chesed for another?