[Avodah] Differences between Charedism and Modern Orthodoxy

[Yitzhak Grossman]

On Wed, 30 Jul 2008 16:58:18 -0400
Micha Berger <micha at aishdas.org> wrote:

...

> >From RARR's "The Rav" vol I #1.04, given by RYBS Sep 14 1968, before the
> first selichos (I happened to read it the same commute as I read RAM's
> post):
>     I once heard the following story from my father.  It was most
>     probably a true story, since the stories that were transmitted in 
>     our family from generation to generation are mostly true. They are
>     not like Chassidic stories, where miracles happen. [Laughter] These
>     stories which have been told and passed down from generation to
>     generation are usually true. These stories do not deal with
>     miracles, but with natural phenomena....
> The story RYBS tells is that of Avraham ben Avraham Hy"d, the geir tzedeq
> of Vilna, the Graf Potocki. RARR makes a point of letting you know where
> people laugh so that you know the audience who heard tone of voice knew
> RYBS was joking.

Compare to the attitude of scholarship:

<Quote>

We must draw a clear distinction between R. Solomon's Responsum 29,
where he inserts a copy of an historical document that was written by a
contemporary of R. Meir, and this statement in the Yam Shel Shlomo,
which was based on an oral report, notoriously subject to error.  An
oral statement made almost three hundred years after the event is
usually devoid of historical truth.

</Quote>

-- Dr. Irving A. Agus, "Rabbi Meir of Rothenberg, Second Edition", p.
130 n. 20, discussed on my blog:

http://bdl.freehostia.com/2008/07/30/the-tower-of-ensisheim-revisited/

> Micha Berger             It isn't what you have, or who you are, or where

Yitzhak
--
Bein Din Ledin - bdl.freehostia.com
An advanced discussion of Hoshen Mishpat