Torah im Derech Eretz

Torah im Derech Eretz is the name of the philosophy of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888). It has been referred to as neo-Orthodoxy.

Etymology

The phrase Torah im Derech Eretz is first found in the Mishna in Tractate Avoth (2:2): "Beautiful is Torah study with Derech Eretz, as involvement with both makes one forget sin". Although Derech Eretz has a wide wide range of meanings in Rabbinic literature, in the context of this Mishnaic statement, made sometime before 200 CE, it means a wordly involvement, i.e. a profession.

History

Torah im Derech Eretz was the motto of the school founded in Emden, Northwest Germany, by Rabbi Samson Rapahel Hirsch. Its meaning was interpreted further by intellectual heirs Rabbi Solomon Breuer (his son-in-law and successor as Rabbi of Frankfurt am Main), Rabbi Joseph Breuer (his grandson and founder of the German community in Washington Heights, New York City) and Rabbi Shimon Schwab, second Rabbi of the "Breuer" community in Washington Heights.

Philosophy

Torah im Derech Eretz implies that in order for the fulfilment of the Torah, it needs Derech Eretz, i.e. worldly involvement. This can mean having a gainful occupation (the "narrow definition"), but also the acquisition of knowledge to be able to interpret and understand the Torah better (the "wide definition"). There are ample reasons to state that since the Second World War, the "wide definition" has been abandoned in the interpretation of Hirsch' vision. Hirsch himself praised Schiller at the dais of school meetings and on a regular basis quotes secular scientists in his Torah commentary.

The "narrow definition" of Torah im Derech Eretz has been important in its conflict with the so-called "Torah only" school of orthodox Judaism. Since the Second World War there has been an ideological call for Jews to devote their intellectual capabilities to Torah study only - in schools, yeshiva and kollel setting. Rabbi Shimon Schwab, although for many years a supporter of this ideology, wrote a booklet ('These and those') elaborating that although the "Torah only" view is important, the "Torah im Derech Eretz" view is no less valid as a way of Jewish life.

Sources

• Hirsch, Samson Raphael The Nineteen Letters Translated by Karin Paritzky, annotated by Rabbi Joseph Elias. ISBN 0-87306-696-0.
• Klugman, Rabbi Eliyahu Meir Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, architect of Judaism for the modern world New York: Mesorah, 1996. ISBN 0899066321.
• Lawrence Kaplan Revisionism and the Rav: The Struggle for the Soul of Modern Orthodoxy, Judaism, Summer, 1999
• Schwab S. Selected Essays (incorporating "These and Those"). CIS Publishers, 1994. ISBN 1-56062-292-X.