Monday, September 2, 2013

Rav Hirsch Offering An Incredible Encapsulation of Torah Im Derech Eretz and a Fantastic Life Plan for BTs

"Judaism is not a mere religion, the synagogue is not a church,
and the rabbi is not a clergyman (priest). Judaism is not an
appurtenance to life, and to be a Jew is not part of the mission
of life. Judaism encompasses life in its entirety. To be a Jew is
a sum of our life's mission-in synagogue and in kitchen;
in field and in counting-house; in the office and on the speaker's platform;
like father, like mother, like son, like daughter; like servant, like
master; as man, as citizen, in thought and in feeling, in word
and in deed, in times of pleasure, in hours of abstinence; with
needle as with chisel or with pen. To be a Jew--in a life which
in its totality is borne on the word of the Lord and is perfected
in harmony with the will of God-this is the scope and goal of
Judaism. Since Judaism encompasses the whole of man and in
keeping with its explicit mission, proclaims the happiness of the
whole of mankind, it is improper to confine its teachings within
the "four ells" of the house of study or of the home of the Jew.
Insofar as the Jew is a Jew, his views and objectives become
universal. He will not be a stranger to anything which is good,
true and beautiful in art and in science, in civilization and in learning.
He will greet with blessing and joy everything of truth, jus-
tice, peace, and the ennobling of man, wherever it be revealed
He will hold firmly to this breadth of view in order to fulfill
his mission as a Jew and to live up to the function of his Judaism
in areas never imagined by his father. He shall dedicate himself
with joy to every true advance in civilization and enlightenment.
But all this on condition that he be never obliged to sacrifice his
Judaism at any new level but rather fulfill it with even greater
perfection."

R' Samson Raphael Hirsch, 1854

Quoted in Guardians of Our Heritage, p. 290

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This paragraph is genius in how it sums up how we should look at the world. Not only should this be required reading for BT 101 but it would also benefit a lot of frustrated FFBs!

Thanks for finding it.

Yisrael said...

It's the perfect paragraph. It presents a very passionate Judaism that doesn't happen to be Charedi. Some look at anything that's not Charedi as judaism light, but you say that's a falsehood.