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Three Generations: The Influence of Samson Raphael Hirsch on Jewish Life and Thought
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1958
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September 2, 2014
As some of you may have noticed, I often have two books on my “currently reading” shelf: one Jewish and one secular. The Jewish books is my Shabbos reading, and the secular is for the weekday, but since I usually enjoy the secular books more, I often read them on Shabbos, too. The result of this is that it can take me weeks to finish a Shabbos book, and I often lose the thread of it along the way. That is precisely what happened with this book. It’s a history of Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch and the generations that followed in his path. The author states at the outset that the book will be hagiographic, and it is, but I for one, believe every word of it. Great people arise in the world, and Rav Hirsch was surely one of them.
In the 19th century, European Jewry underwent a massive phase of assimilation. This was partly due to the decline of religion in general because of the Enlightenment, and partly because the political movements that came with the Enlightenment opened doors to Jews that Christian society had previously denied them. Freedom is a good thing, but it has to be used wisely, and Rav Hirsch was one of the rabbinic leaders of the era to combat assimilation and teach the Jewish people that they could remain Torah-observant Jews in the modern era. He called his approach “Torah im derech eretz,” and in a certain way, it can be seen as a marriage of Torah and Enlightenment ideals. He argued that a Jew can and should learn the sciences and other secular studies, but those studies must always enhance his appreciation of G-d and not, G-d forbid, be used as an excuse to abandon it. Rav Hirsch’s approach had its opponents then as now, but it certainly rings true to the way I try to live my life.
As I said, because I read this book over many weeks, I don’t remember all of it so well. I liked the beginning, which was about Rabbi Hirsch and his contemporaries, and I liked the ending, which is a defense of Torah im derech eretz, but the middle is a blur. The book was written in the late 1950’s, and since so much has changed in the Jewish world since then, parts of the book are really dated. But history is history, and this may still be considered one of the definitive biographies of Rav Hirsch. If you’re at all curious about him, this is an excellent place to start.
In the 19th century, European Jewry underwent a massive phase of assimilation. This was partly due to the decline of religion in general because of the Enlightenment, and partly because the political movements that came with the Enlightenment opened doors to Jews that Christian society had previously denied them. Freedom is a good thing, but it has to be used wisely, and Rav Hirsch was one of the rabbinic leaders of the era to combat assimilation and teach the Jewish people that they could remain Torah-observant Jews in the modern era. He called his approach “Torah im derech eretz,” and in a certain way, it can be seen as a marriage of Torah and Enlightenment ideals. He argued that a Jew can and should learn the sciences and other secular studies, but those studies must always enhance his appreciation of G-d and not, G-d forbid, be used as an excuse to abandon it. Rav Hirsch’s approach had its opponents then as now, but it certainly rings true to the way I try to live my life.
As I said, because I read this book over many weeks, I don’t remember all of it so well. I liked the beginning, which was about Rabbi Hirsch and his contemporaries, and I liked the ending, which is a defense of Torah im derech eretz, but the middle is a blur. The book was written in the late 1950’s, and since so much has changed in the Jewish world since then, parts of the book are really dated. But history is history, and this may still be considered one of the definitive biographies of Rav Hirsch. If you’re at all curious about him, this is an excellent place to start.
Displaying 1 of 1 review