[Avodah] copying from Christian Thinkers

[Eli Turkel]

from an old post
<< "I was hoping people would understand that I was bothered by the very
fact
that RYBS would have based his most famous essay on Jewish thought on
Christian thinkers without even mentioning the fact.  From Brill, it seems
that the ideas were practically copied right out of books by Brunner and
Barth.  Does anyone else have trouble with this?" >>

In addition to R. Carmy's replies I am reading the recent book of
Blidstein, based on old essays, on RYBS.
He has an un depth discussion of the influence of Barth and Buber on the
writings of RYBS. In Halakhic Man and Halakic Mind RYBS explicitly
discusses Barth and so there is no doubt that he was familar with his
writings.

To claim that the ideas were copied from Barth is simply wrong. Blidstein
discusses at length similarities and differences in the approaches of Barth
and RYBS. It is no secret that RYBS read and was influenced by many
nonJewish sources such as   Kierkegaard. Among some of the differences in
approach is that Barth sees Adam II as a continuation of Adam I. According
to RYBS Adam II is a distinctly different entity than Adam I. Barth;s
version is based on Xtian theology while RYBS's is based on Jewish
theology.  Furthermore Barth stresses the idea of the corruption of sin
which again is Xtian and the consequence rebellion of the Jewish people
against G-d. The main point for Barth is the relationship of of Adam and
Eve which symbolizes the relationship of G-d to Israel and then the church.
OTOH RYBS stresses that the convenant is between three parties man, woman
and G-d and symbolizes the intrinsic part that G-d has with regard to man
both that the couple is dedicated to G-d and that G-d is involved in their
relationship. In that sense RYBS dedicated the work to his wife.

In summary RYBS as Rabbi Carmy stated RYBS was influenced by many sources
but he extracted the essence based on his Jewish knowledge. If one reads
the recent interview with RAL he too stresses that one can learn from many
different sources as long as one is able to see which parts align with
Jewish thinking and which parts are opposed.



-- 
Eli Turkel
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