[Avodah] R Hirsch and MO

[Prof. Levine]

At 05:40 AM 7/5/2011, Yitz wrote:

>I have never been able to get a proper delineation of what exactly MO is and
>isn't, so please forgive me if I am misunderstanding, but I had one
>question.

I really doubt that anyone can come up with a precise definition of 
MO that most people would agree with.  My own tongue in cheek 
definition of MO is anyone who keeps Shabbos and has indoor plumbing. >:-}

>AIUI, RSRH viewed education and culture as positive only in their
>ability to enhance ones knowledge of and dedication to a Torah life, (GR"A
>felt the same btw), unless I'm misunderstanding. Is that also the MO outlook
>on science and culture?

The following are selections from RSRH"s essay
<http://www.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/rsrh/relevance_secular_studies_jewish_education.pdf>The 
Relevance of Secular Studies to Jewish Education (Collected Writings VII)

In the present essay we will not go into detailed explanations to 
demonstrate that a serious study of Jewish scholarship requires 
familiarity with many areas of general human knowledge. Anyone even 
superficially acquainted with, say, Rabbinic literature knows about 
the significance of mathematics and astronomy, botany and zoology, 
anatomy and medicine, jurisprudence and ethics in the deliberations 
of our Sages. He will therefore not underestimate the extent to which 
disciples of Talmudic learning can benefit from familiarity with 
these fields of general knowledge.

Now if the Judaism for which we are educating our young need not 
shrink from contact with the intellectual elements of any other true 
culture, it is essential for the future of our youth as citizens, and 
therefore it is a true religious duty, for us to give them a secular 
education. A secular education is a most beneficial help to our young 
in understanding the times in which they live and the conditions 
under which they will have to practice their life's vocation; hence 
it is most desirable also from the Jewish religious viewpoint and 
consequently deserving of warm support. But at the same time, and 
even more important, a good secular education can give our young 
people substantial new insights, added dimensions that will enrich 
their religious training. For this reason, too, secular education 
deserves the support of the religious educator.

But it seems to us that no thinking Jew, aware of his mission as a 
Jew, should deny that, quite aside from considerations of vocational 
and professional education, it is also essential that young Jews, 
particularly those of our own times, should learn about the factors 
that influence the life of modern nations; in other words, that they 
should be introduced to those branches of study that will enable them 
to acquire this knowledge.

----------
The following is from the Introduction to the Hebrew translation of 
Euclid's book on geometry, Sefer Uklidos [The Hague, 1780] by R. 
Barukh Schick of Shklov.

When I was in the illustrious city of Vilna in the presence of the 
Rav, the light, the great Gaon, my master and teacher, the light of 
the eyes of the exile, the renowned pious one (may Hashem protect and 
save him) Rav Eliyahu, in the month of Teves 5538 [January 1778], I 
heard from his holy mouth that according to what a person is lacking 
in knowledge of the "other wisdoms," correspondingly he will be 
lacking one hundred portions in the wisdom of the Torah, because the 
Torah and the 'other wisdoms' are inextricably linked together ..."

The following is from pages 148-149 of  Judaism's Encounter with 
Other Cultures: Rejection or Integration?

R. Israel of Shklov (d. 1839) wrote:

I cannot refrain from repeating a true and astonishing story that I 
heard from the Gaon's disciple R. Menahem Mendel.  It took place when 
the Gaon of Vilna celebrated the completion of his commentary on Song 
of Songs. . . . He raised his eyes toward heaven and with great 
devotion began blessing and thanking God for endowing him with the 
ability to comprehend the light of the entire Torah. This included 
its inner and outer manifestations. He explained: All secular wisdom 
is essential for our holy Torah and is included in it. He indicated 
that he had mastered all the branches of secular wisdom, including 
algebra, trigonometry, geometry, and music. He especially praised 
music, explaining that most of the Torah accents, the secrets of the 
Levitical songs, and  the secrets of the Tikkunei Zohar could not be 
comprehended without mastering it. . .  He explained the significance 
of the various secular disciplines, and noted that  he had mastered 
them all. Regarding the discipline of medicine, he stated that he 
had  mastered anatomy, but not pharmacology. Indeed, he had wanted to 
study pharmacology with practicing physicians, but his father 
prevented him from undertaking its study,  fearing that upon 
mastering it he would be forced to curtail his Torah study whenever 
it would become necessary for him to save a life. . . . He also 
stated that he had  mastered all of philosophy, but that he had 
derived only two matters of significance from  his study of it. . . . 
The rest of it, he said, should be discarded." [11]

[11.] Pe'at ha-Shulhan, ed. Abraham M. Luncz (Jerusalem, 1911), 5a.

Thus it would seem that according to the GRA  all secular knowledge 
has the "ability to enhance one's knowledge of and dedication to a 
Torah life" save for almost all of philosophy.  YL
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