[Avodah] The Vilna Gaon and Secular Studies

[hankman]

I suspect that some will feel that my position on the issue "secular"
studies comes from the left of center. First off, we need to delineate
what we mean by "secular" studies. This word as we use it today is far
different from the science the GRA or the many achronim, rishonim and of
course Chazal learned in the sense of math, astronomy and biology. Today
that word would also include many areas such as social studies,
psychology, philosophy, evolutionary biology, cosmology, comparative
religion, black studies, sexual awareness, cultural studies etc, etc,
that could lead a young untrained mind into problematic areas that could
raise many question they are not prepared to deal with.

The scientific study required by the various sugios in shas and halacha
really require a minimal study of some elementary math such as some trig
and geometry, some values such as that of Pi, square root of 2 etc and
Pythagoras theorem, astronomy (mainly lunar orbit, seasonal and diurnal
calculation), anatomy and some other limited areas of biology plus a
handful of other concepts. By this logic much of what we call science
today would be excluded from being necessary for learning Torah.

Mi'sevoras libi, I would say that the study of much of what we think
of in modern parlance of the many new fields of mathematics and the
physical sciences such as the many branches of modern physics both
classical and relativistic and quantum mechanics, the many branches
of chemistry, biology and medicine and of course modern astronomy
including much more than just solar system dynamics (mainly lunar &
seasonal) and positions of a handful of stars are mandated for a very
simple reason -- an understanding (the deeper the better) in these
fields makes one truly understand that the world is so highly complex
and functions so beautifully that this it can not be a random happening
and that there must be a borei olam. A havana into the very ultra small
as we find through quantum mechanics and particle physics, or into the
wonders of the atom and chemistry and how things combine, or into the
wonders of dynamics, optics, elec & magnetism, or the modern fields of
solar and stellar astronomy and spectrographic analysis and through the
beauty and understanding exposed through the many modern branches of
modern math including advanced algebraic theory, statistical analysis,
advanced calculus and vector and tensor analysis and the many other
fields to numerous to mention here that are so useful throughout all
of modern science.. These literally create emuna and awe of the borei
olam. The understanding of biology from its lowest levels of its physics
and chemistry to the molecular with the tremendous complexities at its
molecular and cellular levels and onto its study at the organic and
systemic levels, through developmental biology of the miraculous changes
from conception through the fetus to birth, infancy and childhood to
the adult and ultimately death. Many of these may not help much with
the simple peshat of any particular sugio in shas, but they surely
create emuna and tremendous yiras haromeimus. No one who has even the
smallest inkling of any of this knowledge could believe that existence
as we now can begin to perceive it is a bunch of random events. Just
the mind boggling complexity of the functioning of a single cell is awe
inspiring. With so many thousands of things happening in each cell with
perfect timing, with everything just in the right place at the right
time in each of the billions of cells in our bodies.

Worst of all, leaving a young mind unexposed to many of these areas
and without proper training in them leaves him vulnerable to the many
questions he will eventually encounter as he goes through modern life. He
will not be prepared to deal with evolution, cosmology, philpsophy etc
that he will surely encounter no matter how well shielded he may be.

In addition to the above, in our modern society some of the above may be
needed merely to functional and earn a living in todays highly technical
society and he will be severely limited in the types of parnasa available
to him.

I am sure that many will differ substantially from my position above.

Please excuse my rambling and repetition at times and run on sentences
in the above.

Kol tuv Chaim Manaster