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<font size=3>At 05:40 AM 7/5/2011, Yitz wrote:<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite="">I have never been able to get a
proper delineation of what exactly MO is and<br>
isn't, so please forgive me if I am misunderstanding, but I had one<br>
question. </font></blockquote><br>
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.
>:-}<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite=""><font size=3>AIUI, RSRH viewed
education and culture as positive only in their<br>
ability to enhance ones knowledge of and dedication to a Torah life,
(GR"A<br>
felt the same btw), unless I'm misunderstanding. Is that also the MO
outlook<br>
on science and culture?</font></blockquote><br>
The following are selections from RSRH"s essay<br>
<div align="center"><font face="arial" size=4><b>
<a href="http://www.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/rsrh/relevance_secular_studies_jewish_education.pdf">
The Relevance of Secular Studies to Jewish Education </a>(Collected
Writings VII)<br><br>
</b></font></div>
<font size=3>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. <br><br>
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. <br><br>
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. <br>
</font><hr>
<font face="arial" size=4><b></b></font>The following is
f<font size=3>rom the Introduction to the Hebrew translation of Euclid's
book on geometry, Sefer Uklidos [The Hague, 1780] by R. Barukh Schick of
Shklov.<br><br>
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 ..."<br><br>
The following is from pages 148-149 of <b>Judaism's Encounter with
Other Cultures: Rejection or Integration?<br><br>
</b>R. Israel of Shklov (d. 1839) wrote:<br>
<br>
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] <br>
<br>
[11.] Pe’at ha-Shulhan, ed. Abraham M. Luncz (Jerusalem, 1911),
5a.<br><br>
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<br>
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