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The following is taken from Rav Schwab on Chumash, Parshas Acharei Mos. I
have posted the entire selection at <br><br>
<a href="http://web.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/rsrh/tide_chumash_schwab.pdf" eudora="autourl">
http://web.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/rsrh/tide_chumash_schwab.pdf</a><br>
<br>
<font size=3>At all times the Torah's unchanging teachings must be
applied to the<br>
ever-changing </font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3><i>derech
eretz. </i></font>All of our actions, attitudes, relationships to<br>
man and beast, and positions within nature and history are subject to
the<br>
jurisdiction and evaluation of the Torah.<br><br>
What follows is that the Torah scholar should be well informed of
the<br>
"ways of the Earth." The laws of nature and the paths of
history should<br>
be known to him. He should be well aware of what happens in the<br>
world that surrounds him, for he is constantly called upon to apply
the<br>
yardstick of halachah and the searchlight of
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3><i>hashkafah </i></font>to the
realities<br>
that confront him.<br><br>
What also follows is that the greater the wisdom of Torah, the more<br>
crucial it is that this wisdom be conveyed to the Jewish
contemporary<br>
world. It must be transmitted in a language that our generation<br>
understands and that will attract the searching youth, the ignorant,
the<br>
estranged and the potential
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3><i>ba</font>
1<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3>al teshuvah </i></font>to a
joyous acceptance of the<br>
yoke of Heaven. The Torah leader must be able to dispel the doubts<br>
of the doubter and to counter the cynicism of the agnostic. He must,<br>
therefore, speak their language masterfully so that he can convince
and<br>
enlighten them.<br><br>
There is indeed a dire need for
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3><i>gedolei Torah,
</i></font>great Torah scholars,<br>
who devote their entire lives to the study and dissemination of
Torah.<br>
The Jewish world today needs many
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3><i>talmidei chachamim
</i></font>whose life<br>
task is to enlighten and inspire it with the <i>love </i>and the fear of
G-d. <i>We<br>
</i>are ready to accord to those "messengers of G-d" the
highest respect and<br>
a loyal following. These are the
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3><i>kohanim </i></font>and
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3><i>levi'im </i></font>of
today. Like the<br>
members of the Levitic tribe of old, they are to <i>serve </i>all the
other tribes<br>
and teach them the living Torah.<br><br>
Yet education and leadership cannot function in a vacuum. Therefore<br>
it becomes mandatory for the present day "Tribe of Levi" to
initiate and<br>
encourage an educational system that can <i>serve </i>the other
"eleven tribes<br>
who comprise the vast majority of our people. It becomes mandatory<br>
for the Torah-conscious educator not to inspire fear of the world
and<br>
hesitancy to meets its challenges, but rather, to fortify the <i>vast
</i>majority of<br>
our youth to meet head-on the thousand and one pitfalls of
professional<br>
and business life. Our youth must be inspired to courageously and<br>
intelligently brave the onslaught of scientific arrogance and the
sensual<br>
poison that is masked as intellectual liberalism.<br><br>
The Divine purpose for which Yisrael was created can be served in<br>
<i>every </i>capacity, in <i>every </i>profession, in all human
endeavors, as long as<br>
they are not excluded by the halachah.<br>
<hr>
Unfortunately, I do not see many Torah scholars today who are "well
informed of the<br>
"ways of the Earth." The laws of nature and the paths of
history should<br>
be known to him. He should be well aware of what happens in the<br>
world that surrounds him, for he is constantly called upon to apply
the<br>
yardstick of halachah and the searchlight of
<font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3><i>hashkafah </i></font>to the
realities<br>
that confront him."<br><br>
I also do not see our educational institutions serving "the other
'eleven tribes' who comprise the vast majority of our people.<br><br>
YL<br>
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