[Avodah] The Legacy of RSRH, Zt'L

[Prof. Levine via Avodah]

The following is taken in part from Rav Shimon Schwab's Essay The 
Legacy of RSRH, ZT"L that appears in Selected Writings pages 88 -93.

Rav Hirsch is usually accepted as the exponent of the
Torah im Derech Eretz philosophy. This principle is
explained by his grandson, Dr. Isaac Breuer, as follows:

"He was strictly opposed to compromise or
reconciliation, or even a synthesis: he demanded full and
uncompromising rulership of the Torah. The Torah cannot
endure co-rulership, far less tolerate it. As a true
revolutionary he seized the liberalistic individual, the
liberalistic, humanitarian ideal, liberalistic capitalism, and
the human intellect, celebrating orgies in the liberalistic
science, and dragged them as "circumstances'', in the
narrowest sense of the word, to the flaming fire of the Torah
to be purified or, if need be, to be consumed. As a true
revolutionary he solved the unbearable tension between the
Torah and the new era which had dawned over the Jews of
Western Europe. He invaded the new era with the weapons
of the Torah, analyzed and dissected it down to its last
ingredients, and then shaped and reformed it until it could
be placed at the feet of the Torah, as new nourishment for
the Divine fire. The proclamation of the rulership of the
Torah over the new era was the historic achievement of
Hirsch's life for his own contemporaries." -- ("Hirsch as a
Guide to Jewish History'' in Fundamentals of Judaism,
published by Feldheim, 1949.) Unfortunately, the principle
of Torah im Derech Eretz is grossly misunderstood by our
contemporary Jewish orthodoxy. It does not mean that one
who is a full-fledged citizen of hedonistic America and at
the same time keeps the laws of the Torah, is a follower of
Torah im Derech Eretz. Not to violate the laws of the Torah
certainly deserves praise and recognition but it is not an
embodiment of the Hirschian philosophy.

Likewise, an academy dedicated to the study of science
and philosophy, not in order to serve the understanding of
Torah or to further the aims of the Torah but as the
independent search by the human intellect to understand
and control the world around -- even when added to a
department of profound and very scholarly Torah studies -this
is not an outgrowth of the Torah im Derech Eretz
Weltanschauung of Samson Raphael Hirsch.

Also, a secular university in Israel, albeit under
skullcap auspices, complete with Judaic studies, is
extremely remote from a Torah im Derech Eretz school
even if it has established a "Samson Raphael Hirsch chair"
as part of its academic set-up, something which almost
borders on blasphemy .

The Orthodox professional who is not regularly
"koveah ittim batorah", or otherwise lacks in the
performance of mitzvahs, or who is immodest in dress or
behavior, is not a follower of Samson Raphael Hirsch. From
all of Hirsch's prolific writings, it becomes evident that his
main concern was to establish the majesty of the Divine
Word and the role of the Divine Will as revealed in the
Torah, to dominate all the highways and by-ways of
mundane life.

Those who abuse Torah im Derech Eretz as a "hetter" to
lead a life of easygoing and lenient "Yiddishkeit" or those
who consider the Hirschian idea as a compromise between
the right and the left in Jewish thinking have distorted the
meaning of the principle as laid down in the Mishne, Avos,
Perek 2, 2: "Beautiful is the study of Torah combined with
Derech Eretz for the effort to attain both makes one forget
to commit sins". The Torah is not a mere branch of human
knowledge, one discipline amongst many others, but rather
must the Torah dominate all secular knowledge and all
worldly activities. Equally so, the community of Israel, Klal
Yisroel, as well as all Kehillos and organized communities,
be they local or international -- which are all segments of
Klal Yisroel -- are not supposed to be mere branches of a
neutral Israel but are to be totally independent. The Torah
community is not beholden to any non-Torah community
and it does not even recognize its authenticity. This is the
essence of the Hirschian Austritt (separation) ideology. The
so-called "Austritt" is the militant vigilance of the
conscientious Jew defending the Torah community against
all encroachments from the non-Torah powers that be. The
"Austritt" and Torah im Derech Eretz go hand in hand, they
form "one package", so to speak, and both these aspects of
Hirschian thought have one aim: the total domination of
Torah over all thinking and actions of individual and
national life.

He who separates the rule of the Torah over all facets of
the communal life of Klal Yisroel from the rule of the Torah
over all human knowledge, in short, he who separates the
"Austritt" from Torah im Derech Eretz, renders a disservice
to both. Instead of becoming an inspiration to serve G-d in
the spirit of B'chol D'rochecha dahu, Torah im Derech Eretz is
reduced to become an excuse for being "modern but frum",
an excuse for the cultural assimilation which plagues the
modern Orthodox Jew who considers this world a kosher
pleasure cruise eventually resulting in all the sorry
hangovers of our age.

Let us therefore beware of some common
misunderstandings. The motto does not have its accent on
the last word but on the first word. It is TORAH -underscored
for double emphasis -- with Derech Eretz.

Furthermore, the leit-motif is neither Torah and
Derech Eretz nor Torah U'Madoh -- the two are not equal
partners -- nor must it be twisted around into Derech Eretz
plus Torah. It is neither a synthesis of Torah with
assimilation nor a bloodless orthopraxy blended with
earthbound Americanism.

It is none of these.

It is Torah im Derech Eretz. It means G-d's Torah in its
totality, utilizing Derech Eretz as the means to bring about
the Torah's full realization.

It means: Torah as a Divine nourishment and the
human Derech Eretz as the aromatic ingredient to bring out
the Torah's intrinsic flavor to its most perfect bloom.

There are two schools of thought and they are both
legitimate. One is "Torah Only" and the other is Torah im
Derech Eretz. All Torah-conscious Jews work for the same
goal. There are various methods and various avenues of
approach. They all lead up to the ultimate end of:

"Yisgadal v'yisgadash  Shmei rabah"

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