The Jewish Response to Modernity-
May 22 2021
Follow the actual discussion on You Tube:
What is a dialectic?
Marx- wave of economic forms that present
Thesis-antithesis-synthesis- which becomes the new thesis, and cycle goes on.
Taken from Hegel- For Marx, economics is prime, for Hegel, ideas is prime.
Hegel introduced idea of cycle of civilizations, from
absolute divine Pharaoh, culminating in devolution of power to the people.
Beginning of 19th century.
Shortly thereafter, a Jewish scholar in Galicia, Nachman
Krochmal, influenced by Hegel. Asked the question- all civilizations rise, peak
, decay and disappear. Why did the Jews not decay and vanish? Because, unlike
the assumption that we had been eternally the same, from Biblical times till
now, we were constantly adapting to the needs of the day and moment- Hence- his
Guide to the Perplexed of his day. Moreh Nebukhe ha-Zeman (Guide for the Perplexed of the Time)
With Mendelsohn, we enter a phase of shock. The Gates of
Berlin are open. What then? What is the response of the Jewish world- this is
echoed, not just in Berlin, but within
the course of a century, is impacting Ashkenazi and Mizrachi Jewry.
Do we want civil rights?
Napoleon and the Great Sanhedrin 1806
12
questions- most central:
1.
In the eyes of Jews are Frenchmen not of the Jewish religion
considered as brethren or as strangers?
2.
What conduct does Jewish law prescribe toward Frenchmen not of
the Jewish religion?
3.
Do the Jews born in France, and treated by the law as French
citizens, acknowledge France as their country? Are they bound to defend it? Are
they bound to obey the laws and follow the directions of the civil code?
1.
That every Israelite is religiously bound to consider his
non-Jewish fellow citizens as brothers, and to aid, protect, and love them as
though they were coreligionists.
2.
That the Israelite is required to consider the land of his birth
or adoption as his fatherland, and shall love and defend it when called upon;
Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav believed Napoleon's soul was
really of some aristocrat, not humble nobody form Corsica. Hasidic legend … the
image of Rabbi Menahem Mendel of Rymanov, could be seen beside Napoleon during
his victorious battles.
BUT-Most of the Eastern European Jewish
leadership--including the founder of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, Rabbi
Shneur Zalman of Liady--opposed the French ruler, whether out of loyalty to
their local rulers or because they feared the breakdown of traditional
values that would result from the spread of the ideals of the French
Revolution.
(The debate became theme of historical novel Gog und
Magog by young Martin Buber).
Responses to opening of the West:
Hadah asur min hatorah- Chatam Sofer & Rabi Akiba Eger.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses_Sofer#/media/File:Moses_S._Schreiber_Litho.jpg
Chatam ( Signature)Sofer( Writer of scrolls)-Schreiber in
Yiddish/German. Born in my birthplace, Frankfurt. Established himself in
Pressburg( Bratislava) now Slovakia.( Shreiber’s are commonly his descendants).
Slogan Chadash Asur Min hatorah- That which is new was
already forbidden in the Written Torah.
No holds barred attack:Total war with no concessions in the
battle against modernity. . . .vigorously, resourcefully, and with diplomatic
skill. He adopted the long-range plan of strengthening educational and communal
institutions and disseminating Torah study ("It is a time to act for the
Lord, increase your Torah," the appointment of his best disciples to
rabbinic posts and the strengthening in general of the status of the rabbinate.
VERY SIGNIFICANT_ He put to bed the war between
the Yeshivah-Talmudic world ( Misnagdim) and the Hasidim. _This required a
united front.
Created an irreparable breach between the Orthodox and
the non-Orthodox sectors (https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/sofer-moses)
Similarly he dissociated himself from the battle for
emancipation, not merely because he feared the heavy price that would be
exacted for it at the cost of tradition, but because he viewed the very
aspiration for equality as a sign of dissatisfaction with the traditional way
of life of the community and a desire for partial assimilation with
gentile culture.
Secular education- only so far as necessary to maintain a
trade or profession.
My claim to fame- he married the daughter of my mother’s
mother’s great-grandfather, Rabbi Akiva Eger-the greatest Talmudist of the day,
who joined with him in the battle.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akiva_Eger#/media/File:AkivaEger2.jpgThe other route- Reform
Finding a way to be both a Jew and a member of European
civilization- without being a Christian. Return to “ Prophetic Judaism”. One
would be a Jew of the “ Mosaic Persuasion”. Deutscher Mosaiasches Glaubens.
1st such synagogue 1810-Early baby steps-decorum
in synagogue. Sermon in German, shortened service.
First steps were topical only- Hamburg Temple-went further remove
prayers for return to Zion, return to the Temple sacrifice. Introduction of the
organ. Not yet the wholesale abandonment of the ritual laws ( halakhah)
Women were still in the balcony! ( Not until the move of
German Jews to US in 1840’s, and then, supposedly, by accident).
So, for example, my father; synagogue- Westend Synagog
The 2nd largest pipe organ in Germany- now removed, as the old Frankfurt liberal Jewish community had been replaced by East European traditional Jews.
The women’s balcony
Key figure: Rabbi Abraham Geiger
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Geiger#/media/File:AbrahamGeiger.png
Abraham Geiger was
given a rabbinic post in Breslau. In Breslau Geiger established a school for
religious studies and a group for study of Hebrew philology. He was one of the
most active participants in the Synods held by the Reform rabbis
in Frankfort (1845) and Breslau (1846). It was these synods which resulted in
traditional European Jews, led by Rabbi Samson Raphael
Hirsch (Geiger's old friend), separating from the reformers.(
more later)
synods set out to eliminate from Judaism every mark of
national uniqueness. Since the goal of modern Judaism was to live a lifestyle
that brought holiness into the modern world, a world of science and truth; all
outmoded rabbinic legislation had to pass the test of reason, morality, and
modernity to be acceptable. If a practice separated a Jew from the modern,
secular world, then it was a Jew's religious obligation to renounce it.Geiger
believed that all of Jewish tradition was an evolutionary process. He saw every
generation of Jews creating practices that expressed the eternal ethical laws
inherent in Judaism.
The synods recommended the abolition of the dietary
laws; wearing the kippah, tallit,
and tefillin. Prayer references
to a "Return to Zion," a personal Messiah,
and resurrection of the dead were removed. References to the
sacrificial cult were excised. Geiger opposed all prayer in Hebrew,
but he was not able to convince the synods of this.
There was discussion about abolishing circumcision, but
the rite remained.
Geiger and the other early founders of Reform Judaism
burned with a messianic passion. They believed that what they were doing would
save Judaism from the old-fashioned legislative stagnation of the rabbis and,
at the same time, rid Europe of anti-Semitism by offering a Judaism
that the secular world could honor and accept.
The Neo-Orthodox Reaction- in
tandem with the European Romanticism- reason had gone overboard. It abandoned
the realms of emotion, creation, will. Jewish parallel- Abraham Geiger’s
friend, Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, founder of the “ Perushim”( also
Frankfurt)- Separatists. Jews who could no stomach the extremes in the Reform
and appealed to the local government to separate legally form the resto of the
Jewish community. ( Often called Breuer’s gemeinde-now based in uptown
Manhattan-when you see the movie " In the Heights"- that was the local for the German Jewish community--all that the movie shows, as a remanant, is the word" baekerai"-Bakery!). Characterized by- 1) a combination of involvement in modern culture
and education 2) iron-clad adherence to Jewish law.
As a pulpit rabbi, Hirsch adopted the style of the
Reformers. He wore clerical robes, accepted a choir (male-only), shaved his
beard (before the advent of electric razors), delivered sermons in German, the
vernacular, and encouraged study of the Bible instead of engaging in pilpul
(Talmudic "hairsplitting"). He also abolished the Kol Nidre service
on Yom
Kippur.!
Here is the young Rabbi Hirsch
"Torah Mit Derekh Eretz," after the verse in
Pirke Avot (2:2) that "Torah is good together with derekh eretz." In
the context of the Mishna, derekh eretz means an occupation but Hirsch expanded
its meaning to include full engagement with western culture, while maintaining
adherence to Jewish law. In this, he created the idea of the
"Israel-Mentsch," the enlightened religious personality. While he
believed that style or non-halakhic externalities could be changed, he believed
that the essence of Jewish law and belief could not change.
Head covering- he was called to the King for a royal honor.
He declared that his wig was sufficient as a kippah.
Most popular work- 19 letters of ben Uziel- It was written in the form of a
fictional correspondence between a young rabbi / philosopher and a youthful
intellectual.[8] The first letter, the intellectual's, outlines the
challenges that emancipation created for modern Jews, and questions
the continued relevance of Judaism. The Rabbi responds in the subsequent
letters, discussing, in a structured sequence, God, Man, and Jewish History;
leading to a discussion of the Mitzvot and their
classification (as employed in Horeb). This work made a profound
impression in German Jewish circles, and has been republished and translated
several times; it is still influential, and often taught.
The modern orthodox camp
would haveits rabbinical school- Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary (officially
in German: Rabbinerseminar für das
orthodoxe Judenthum in Berlin
Leopold Zunz: the application of modern academic methods to
the study of Jewish sources-Bible- Talmud=Midrash, philosophy , halakhah.
My father’s school:
Hochschule fur die Wissenschaft des Judentums-
A Middle Way-Positive Historical school-what is now Conservative Judaism=
Don’t throw the
baby out with the bath water!
Rabbi Zechariah Frankel-
The Positive-Historical School- „historisch-positiven Judentums"
Historical- we accept the
modern critical examination of our source texts and teachings
Positive- we take a positive approach to our traditions and
teachings with an eye to preserving ( conserving)them, in as maximum a form as
possible, without giving up the essentials for what may be temporary
contemporary winds.
Zechariah *Frankel, chief rabbi of Dresden,
Germany, a proponent of moderate Reform, broke with his more radical colleagues
at the Rabbinical Conference of Frankfurt (1845), over the issue of
retaining Hebrew as the language of prayer. Frankel called for
"positive-historical Judaism." This formula connotes, first, a
predisposition to accept much of the "positive," ceremonial substance
of Jewish practice while allowing for moderate changes, and second, an attitude
of respect for the historical nature of Judaism. The loyalties of generations of
Jews to a particular practice, no less than a proof-text from an authoritative
religious source, could sanctify that usage.
In 1854, Frankel concretized his conservative yet flexible
approach to Judaism in a rabbinical school that he headed,
the *Juedisch-Theologisches Seminar (Jewish Theological Seminary) of
Breslau. Until destroyed by the Nazis in 1938, this rabbinical school trained
the institutional leaders and served as a scholarly center for "Historical
Judaism" in Central Europe.
In Germany- these are all small movements- it is in the US,
in the 19th, 20th century- where they all explode upon
the Jewish scene in full force
In modern Germany- There is an Abraham Geiger rabbinical
school- Reform, and a Zecharias Frankel rabbinical school- conservative.
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