[Avodah] kol hamosif, gorea

[T613K at aol.com]

From: Saul.Z.Newman at kp.org
> from revach-----
...
> The Chasam Sofer says since the Menorah represents the light of Torah
> we learn from here that no outside sciences or wisdom should be used
> to adorn the Torah. The Torah has all its light within it and nothing
> in the outside world can enhance this brilliant light. With this idea
> he explains the gemara Megila (32) "He who holds the Sefer Torah bare
> (without a covering) will be buried bare without mitzvos." This means
> that if a person considers the Torah lacking and he feels it needs the
> beauty of science and other wisdoms to adorn it and make it complete
> will himself die without mitzvos since this is Apikurses.

I could equally well make a drasha about how the knobs and flowers
obviously serve a decorative rather than functional purpose, and therefore
prove that external chachma IS part of Torah, as long as it is attached
to Torah and not sought for its own sake. Of course I would not dare
to take issue with the Chacham Sofer -- were it not for the fact that
many other Torah greats have done so.

Another argument could also be made, viz., that anything that is
demonstrably true -- e.g, the laws of physics that enable planes to fly,
or laws of biology that enable farmers to grow better crops and improve
their livestock -- is intrinsically part of Torah, that everything in
the natural world was created by Hashem and therefore is part of Torah,
"Histakel be'Oraisa ubara alma."

Except for the speculative and apikorsishe parts of science textbooks
(usually the introductory passages, sometimes the odd sentence thrown in
here and there that is really opinion masquerading as science), science
itself is Torah. You could make that case. And then you could write
footnotes to the Chasam Sofer and say, "This means that one should
not study philosophy, literature, or anything else that is a purely
human construct unrelated to Torah, but the study of the natural world
IS Torah." (I personally would still remain a Hirschian not a Soferian,
but the case could be made, I'm just saying.....)

From: "Rich, Joel" _JRich at sibson.com_ (mailto:JRich at sibson.com) 
> and R'  Aron Soloveitchik taught that the menorah represents all wisdoms 
> with the  central  branch representing torah towards which all curve  
> towards.

Hirsch says exactly the same thing, and he in turn bases it on still  
earlier sources.

--Toby Katz
==========