tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75352401243010928702024-03-07T22:38:55.855-05:00Beis Midrash of Torah Im Derech EretzTorah Im Derech Eretz: A complete Torah outlook directs us as we navigate the modern world. Can we find our way on this derech (spiritual path)?
An attempt to explore the ideas and ideals of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch and other Torah Im Derech Eretz personalities. And LIVE them.
Avi from BM of TIDEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17434452164063875437noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7535240124301092870.post-71323750268289727922022-01-26T13:46:00.003-05:002022-01-26T14:18:35.855-05:00The Ultimate Decision<p>Thousands of worldviews: religions, philosophies, cultures.
Which one should I live by? </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Endless choices: how should I think, speak, act on a daily
basis? Which people should I spend my time with, and how should I relate to
them? Time is limited; how should I use it?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Experts tell us to focus: on the Essential, on the The One
Thing, on the Wildly Important Goals, on What Matters Most. But what
IS essential? What IS the one thing?</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“It is…the will of G-d that is the sole basis for all our
duties. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">And should any other basis for
any duty be possible for the whole of mankind? Ought the idea of ‘duty’ to be
conceivable without the idea of ‘G-d’s will’?</b>.....everything <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>which appertains to activity –our personality,
our intellectual capacity, and physical powers, and the world which surrounds
them and provides them with objects and means---belongs to the One and Only G-d.
Who then can have disposal of all this except G-d alone? Whose orders ought we
then follow except His?” (Horeb, by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, Foreword, first paragraph; bold added.)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Simple words, yet stunning in their implications. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We can eliminate any worldview, and any use of our time, that is
not directed by the One G-d’s commands. All brands of atheism, agnosticism, and polytheism
certainly have no concept of a valid command that would be binding on anyone. But even a form of monotheism that is murky about, or even downgrades, the concept of G-d’s clear, direct commands is suspect. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The Torah provides clear, direct commands from the One and
Only all-powerful Creator; it is the final contender in our search for meaning.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And all of this is implicated by one word: Mitzvah.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;">See <a href="https://web.stevens.edu/golem/llevine/rsrh/horebaphilosophy027897mbp.pdf">Horeb, by R' S.R. Hirsch. Scroll to page 159 of 450.</a> </span> </p>Avi from BM of TIDEhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17434452164063875437noreply@blogger.com0