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<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>The following is from
<b>Haskalah, Secular Studies and the Close of the Yeshiva in Volozhin in
1892</b> by Rabbi Dr. J. J. Schachter. The entire essay may be read
at
<a href="http://www.yutorah.org/_shiurim/TU2_Schachter.pdf" eudora="autourl">
http://www.yutorah.org/_shiurim/TU2_Schachter.pdf</a> The reader
may also want to see <b>Facing the Truths of History</b> at
<a href="http://yuriets.yeshivalive.com/TU8_Schachter.pdf" eudora="autourl">
http://yuriets.yeshivalive.com/TU8_Schachter.pdf</a><br><br>
YL<br><br>
Rabbi Schacter writes, "In a recently published essay [R. S. Schwab,
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Selected Writings
</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>(Lakewood, 1988), 234],
Rabbi Shimon Schwab justified this neglect of history on positive
ideological grounds rather than simply considering it as reflecting an
avoidance of bittul Torah. His comments are remarkable and deserve being
cited in detail:<br><br>
'There is a vast difference between history and storytelling. History
must be truthful. otherwise, it does not desert its name. A book of
history must report the bad with the good, the ugly with the beautiful,
the difficulties and the victories, the guilt and the virtue. Since it is
supposed to be truthful, it cannot spare the righteous if he fails, and
it cannot skip the virtues of the villain. For such is truth, all is told
the way it happened. Only a Navi mandated by his Divine calling has the
ability to report history as it really happened, unbiased and without
prejudice.<br><br>
Suppose one of us today would want to write a history of Orthodox Jewish
life in pre-holocaust Germany. There is much to report but not everything
is complimentary. Not all of the important people were flawless as one
would like to believe and not all the mores and lifestyles of this bygone
generation were beyond criticism. An historian has no right to take
sides. He most report the stark truth and nothing but the truth. Now, if
an historian would report truthfully what he witnessed, it would make a
lot of people rightfully angry. He would violate the prohibition against
spreading Loshon Horah which does not only apply to the living, but also
to those who sleep in the dust and cannot defend themselves any
more.<br><br>
What ethical purpose is served by preserving a realistic historic
picture? Nothing but the satisfaction of curiosity. We should tell
ourselves and our children the good memories of the good people, their
unshakeable faith, their staunch defense of tradition, their life of
truth, their impeccable honesty, their boundless charity and their great
reverence for Torah and Torah sages. What is gained by pointing out their
inadequacies and their contradictions? We want to be inspired by their
example and learn from their experience.<br><br>
When Noach became intoxicated, his two sons Shem and,Japhet, took a
blanket and walked into his tent backwards to cover the nakedness of
their father. Their desire was to always remember their father as the
Tzaddik Tomim in spite of his momentary weakness. Rather than write
the history of our forebears, every generation has to put a veil over the
human failings of its elders and glorify all the rest which is great and
beautiful. That means we have to do without a real history book. We can
do without. We do not need realism, we need inspiration from our
forefathers in order to pass it on to posterity.'"<br><br>
Rabbi Dr. Schacter then comments, <br><br>
"It is interesting that Rabbi Schwab does not deny that
"important people" and "good people" have failings
and inadequacies. Rather, he suggests that they are best overlooked and
forgotten.<br><br>
However, even this remarkable argument (which merits its own analysis)
explains only the neglect and disregard of history: it does nor justify
the distorting of history. While it may explain why one should not write
about the past, it does not justify distorting the past when one does
write about it. Inventing the past is as foolish as foretelling the
future, but more scandalous.<br><br>
This point was made forcefully and tellingly by Rabbi Joseph Elias in a
review article written over twenty years ago. [See Joseph Elias,
"Past and Present in the Teaching of Jewish History," The
Jewish observer IV:8 (November, 1967), 18, 23. The italics are by the
author.]<br><br>
He wrote:<br><br>
... the later history of the Jew can help most significantly toward a
proper understanding of our sacred heritage and of our duty here and now.
Through it we can convey to our youth the principles which underline and
emerge from our past, and their application to the problems and issues of
our time. Let it be well understood, however, <i>we must see the present
in the light of the past and not, reversely, project the passing ideas of
the day, its confusions and uncertainties, into the past...<br><br>
</i>If he (i.e., "the Torah historian") permits his values and
judgements to be subject to the influence of his age, he will arrive at a
distorted picture of both the Torah world and the secular world—and he
will even project these distortions into that past from which he could
have learned the truth."<br><br>
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