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From
<a href="http://tinyurl.com/n87ytk4" eudora="autourl">
http://tinyurl.com/n87ytk4</a><br><br>
<font size=3><b>His [the Chasam Sofer's] Attitude towards Work and
Secular Studies<br><br>
</b>Out of concern for their livelihood, the Chatam Sofer encouraged most
of his students to work and set times for Torah study – unlike the
practice today among Hareidi society, which encourages the majority of
men to learn in Kollel. True, he did believe that in chutz la’aretz
(outside of the Land of Israel), it was preferable for someone who could
make ends meet without working and without having to rely on the public
coffers, to engage in Torah study, similar to the opinion of Rabbi Shimon
bar Yochai in the Talmud (Berachot 35b).<br><br>
<Snip><br><br>
<b>The Chatam Sofer’s Attitude towards Eretz Yisrael<br><br>
</b>As far as his attitude towards Eretz Yisrael is concerned, there are
no two ways about it – the Chatam Sofer was one of greatest admirers of
the Land of Israel. If all his comments on the importance of Eretz
Yisrael were gathered, they would comprise an entire book. Following in
the path of Chazal and Ramban, he wrote that the main fulfillment of
Torah and mitzvoth is in the Land of Israel (Drashot Chatam Sofer 18:1),
and compared chutz la’aretz to a grave (ibid. 76:1). He also wrote that
“the ground of Eretz Yisrael is holier than the skies of chutz la’aretz”
(ibid. 324:2).<br><br>
All this coincides with his wonderful explanation of the importance of
work in the Land of Israel, which I mentioned last week.<br><br>
“Working the land and producing its holy fruit is itself a mitzvah – the
mitzvah of yishuv Eretz Yisrael, settling the Land of Israel…” But not
only that, he also wrote: “It is possible that other trades which involve
social welfare are also included in the mitzvah.” Now, as a posek
halacha (adjudicator of Jewish law) who chooses his words precisely, we
see that he was not content writing that the other trades are machshirei
mitzvot (the performance of tasks that are necessary to enable a mitzvah
to be performed), rather, he wrote that they are possibly an actual
mitzvah. In other words, if these trades are considered machshirei
mitzvah, then their importance is measured only according to their degree
of benefit in settling the Land, but if the same outcome can be achieved
by other people doing the job, there is no need specifically for Jews to
fill all these trades. But if the trades themselves are a mitzvah of
yishuv ha’aretz, they inherently possess kedusha (holiness). In any
event, his remarks indicate that anyone who contributes to the prosperity
of the State of Israel fulfills an absolute mitzvah of settling the Land
of Israel (Chiddushei Chatam Sofer, Sukkah 36b).<br><br>
In his book ‘Torat Moshe’ on the Torah portion Shoftim, he added that
even vocational studies are a mitzvah: “"Not only working the land
[is the fulfillment of a commandment] but also studying all trades,
because of the settlement and honor of the land of Israel, so that no one
should say that in all of the land of Israel there is no qualified
shoemaker or builder and so on, and they would need to bring them from
other lands, consequently, studying all the trades are a
mitzvah…"<br><br>
It should be noted that his approach had an influence on his disciples
and their students, seeing as a relatively high percentage of them
immigrated to Eretz Yisrael.<br><br>
Another point worth mentioning is that the Lithuanian method of Torah
study prevalent among Hareidi society today, is also radically different
from the method of the Chatam Sofer, who emphasized learning aliba
d’hilchata (straightforward and practical explanations).<br><br>
See the above URL for more. YL<br><br>
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