Rischa D'Araisa Season 5 Episode 13:
Is Every Musing Fit to Print?
Does This Remark Sully the Luster of
Rav Shimon Schwab zt"l?
A listener sent in the following note:
Dear Rabbi Bechhofer,
I am currently listening to your
latest podcast with Rabbi Kivelevitz. I believe your outrage at Rabbi
Schwab's remarks prove the point I have made to you before that people
have a soft spot for some things and care little for others, and base
their hashkofos of whom to "cancel" and whom to forgive accordingly.
Incidentally, Rabbi Schwab was not the first to make the connection
between Balfour and Ba'al Pe'or. The Munkatcher Rebbe famously called
the Hatzharas Balfour "Tzoras Ba'al Pe'or" - see the attached page from
Sefer Tikun Olam:
As my shutaf Reb Avrohom noted, for the Munkatcher this is tzugepast and to be expected. From Rav Schwab, on the other hand...
The sha'ar blatt of that kuntres is also worth seeing:
Of course the work contains the de riguer condemnations of Rav Kook zt"l etc. Intriguingly, it also sees fit to excoriate Rabbi Azriel Hildesheimer zt"l.
The entire work is at https://www.hebrewbooks.org/35971
I have to take issue with entire tone and slant of the podcast.
ReplyDeleteRav Shimon Schwab was not a "fake" Yekke. I knew him and such a statement is absolutely false.
If you want to get a view of his greatness, please read some of my articles about him at
https://personal.stevens.edu/~llevine/pub.html
The podcast says that defecation is degrading. Is it really proper for anyone to consider any one of the bodily functions that HaShem created degrading? I think not!
1. "Fake" is an exaggeration. Anyone born and bred with Rabbi Schwab's pedigree is a Yekke par excellence. The reference is to his derech.
Delete2. There are numerous sources that contradict your position, not the least the now out of practice recital of "Hiskabdu Mechubadim" before entering a restroom.
I suggest that Rabbi Bechhofer and the person interviewing him read the article at
ReplyDeletehttps://seforimblog.com/2021/04/hirschian-humanism-after-the-holocaust-an-analysis-of-the-approach-of-rabbi-shimon-schwab/
titled
Hirschian Humanism After the Holocaust: An Analysis of the Approach of Rabbi Shimon Schwab
There they will read about Rav Schwab's approach to TIDE.
No chiddushim (for me, at least). But thanks for the mareh makom.
DeleteThe Holocaust *and* the establishment of the medinah challenged a lot of notions of *daas torah* (RHS tells that R' Chaim Ozer told a young RYBS that hair would grow from his palm if a medinah would actually happen); and certainly it is fair to ask if/how classical TIDE should be challenged by the Holocaust. (If I'm not mistaken, Lord Sacks zt"l basically says "this time is different.") RYGB, I'd love to hear more on your thoughts on the latter. (Or the former too, for that matter.)
ReplyDeleteI wonder if Rabbi Joseph Elias zt"l's jaundiced view of classical TIDE (RYGB, is that a fair assessment?) was influenced not just by mistreatment in Germany, but then being treated as a suspected Nazi spy in Canada -- when even the "good guys" of WWII mistreat you, it's hard to have faith in broader civilization ...
Agav -- the *Birah Dolekes* that young Avraham Avinu sees and determines must have an owner. Most translate "a well-lit palace", he's marveling at nature; it's R' Gelernty of the WWII-era Bronx who translated "civilization was aflame" -- he's contemplating its failures and that there must be a Being in charge who expects better.
Yes, the Holocaust definitely contributed to the tossing of the baby with the bath water. Which was a tragic development for our nation. :-(
DeleteAs far as not publishing every comment ever made by rabbonim, you have made the same correct analysis of Rabbi Avigdor Miller's posthumously published books and newsletters based on decades-old private tapes. The "My way or the highway" attitude is not the kind of hashkafa the frum world needs. Especially reproachable is this attitude packaged in "Avigdor Miller for Children" parshah sheets. The dismissive and rejectionist attitude towards people not in one's self-identified group is shocking.
ReplyDeleteAgreed wholeheartedly. If you check the Wikipedia page for Rabbi Miller, it's full of very unwelcome quotes.
DeleteContrast with the Igros -- Rav Moshe tells a fellow in Kfar Chabad that maybe he did muse something about Medinat Yisrael to his talmidim, but it was not a psak for public release. (The Chabdnik was asking for *halacha le-ma'aseh* on *milchemes mitzvah*, to which RMF replied -- "nobody's asking me, and if they did, I wouldn't know how to respond anyhow!")
RYGB -- potential Rischa fodder at some point?
"Spiritual pursuits vs. needs of a spouse" -- we all know roshei yeshiva who seem to have prioritized the former, and that seems to be the message imparted ...
Great topic!
Delete