Rabbi Dessler’s View of Secular Studies and Wissenschaft des Judentums
- Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler (1892–1953) is often portrayed as antagonistic to secular studies. However, his writings show more of an intellectual hierarchy that places Torah wisdom at the top and all other wisdom a distant second. R. Dessler expended great effort promoting Torah scholarship while generally refraining from disparaging secular studies. Looking at the writings of his predecessors in the Mussar (moralist) movement, one can see that there was no disapproval of worldly education there, either: In fact, R. Dessler and his predecessors were well-educated in many secular disciplines. This essay looks to places R. Dessler’s attitude toward Wissenschaft des Judentums within the context of his life’s mission to advance talmudic study and his consequent unwillingness to countenance anything that detracted from furthering the learning of Torah. I argue that, whereas his extreme opposition to Wissenschaft was the result of his aversion to its aims, methods and conclusions, his nuanced relationship to Orthodox Wissenschaft was theRabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler (1892–1953) is often portrayed as antagonistic to secular studies. However, his writings show more of an intellectual hierarchy that places Torah wisdom at the top and all other wisdom a distant second. R. Dessler expended great effort promoting Torah scholarship while generally refraining from disparaging secular studies. Looking at the writings of his predecessors in the Mussar (moralist) movement, one can see that there was no disapproval of worldly education there, either: In fact, R. Dessler and his predecessors were well-educated in many secular disciplines. This essay looks to places R. Dessler’s attitude toward Wissenschaft des Judentums within the context of his life’s mission to advance talmudic study and his consequent unwillingness to countenance anything that detracted from furthering the learning of Torah. I argue that, whereas his extreme opposition to Wissenschaft was the result of his aversion to its aims, methods and conclusions, his nuanced relationship to Orthodox Wissenschaft was the result of the hierarchy through which he viewed secular as opposed to talmudic study.…
Author details: | Esther Solomon |
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URN: | urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-417810 |
Title of parent work (German): | PaRDES : Zeitschrift der Vereinigung für Jüdische Studien e. V. |
Publisher: | Universitätsverlag Potsdam |
Place of publishing: | Potsdam |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2018/10/01 |
Publication year: | 2018 |
Publishing institution: | Universität Potsdam |
Publishing institution: | Universitätsverlag Potsdam |
Release date: | 2018/10/11 |
First page: | 103 |
Last Page: | 124 |
RVK - Regensburg classification: | BD 1680 |
Organizational units: | Extern / Vereinigung für Jüdische Studien e. V. |
DDC classification: | 2 Religion / 20 Religion / 200 Religion |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Publishing method: | Open Access |
Universitätsverlag Potsdam | |
Collection(s): | Universität Potsdam / Zeitschriften / PaRDeS : Zeitschrift der Vereinigung für Jüdische Studien e.V., ISSN 1862-7684 / PaRDeS (2018) 24 / Articles |
License (German): | Keine öffentliche Lizenz: Unter Urheberrechtsschutz |