Lecture on Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888), and important German-Jewish thinker. Part of the Jewish Biography as History lecture series at www.henryabramson.com.
Loved your lecture. By the way, an great great grandson of rabbi hirsh , leaved across from us . Painfully he he is married to a catholic woman , but was very proud with his roots.
It is interesting to note the different approaches to the problem of modernity and how it was affecting the Jews. It is also worth thinking about after the huge failure of the Reformed movement (according to the traditionalist view), that Rabbi Hirsch would attempt to do something so dangerous again. As you mentioned, one major difference was that Rabbi Hirsch had an uncompromising stance on the 613 mitzvos; that is what I think made his movement the success that it is today. The problem of modernization is a real one, and while some may be able to follow the approach of those who choose to completely reject it, as someone who is attending university (and typing on a computer right now), this other approach of of "Modern Orthodoxy" is a great help to know where exactly to draw the line. However, one problem that I have noticed with this approach is that many people do not really know where to draw the line. We see that Rabbi Hirsch suffered wight his problem himself and was even forced to make a separatist Jewish community.
"Accretions must be jettisoned". But we spin pearls around the cultural accretions of other folkways and make it our own, a thing of beauty if its ethical in nature and at least not illogical.
Dr. Abramson, respectfully, I think you've exaggerated the haredi position. The accepted practice is to examine everything new for its potential benefit/damage before adopting it wholesale. Many other aspects of non-Jewish society can be allowed on a case-by-case basis, and overall the ruling for a newly-observant Jew will be different than for a Jew who grew up in a haredi home.
It is NOT true that all of Moses Mendelssohn's children converted to Christianity. His second-oldest daughter, Recha, and his eldest son, Joseph, retained the Jewish faith. PLEASE CORRECT THIS, DR. ABRAMSON!
