CONTINUING with Professor Cherry's lecture:
FURTHER MORE SCHLESINGER EMPLOYED "HAGGADAH" - WHICH ARE OFTEN EXAGGERATED STATEMENTS THAT AREN'T RESTRICTED BY GROUPS CONSENSUS. HE USED THE PLAYFUL CREATIVITY OF THE TALMUDIC RABBIS TO CREATE A NEW "HALAHA" - I WILL GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE OF THIS IN A MOMENT.
HE ARGUED THAT SECULAR STUDIES ARE PROHIBITED, EVEN IF THEY ARE NECESSARY FOR ONES OCCUPATION. LATER ON HE MODIFIED HIS POSITION ON THAT, BUT AT LEAST IN THEORY, WHAT THE JEWS SHOULD BE DOING WAS STUDYING TORAH. THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH STUDYING SECULAR SUBJECTS, BUT THAT'S THE ROLE OF THE GENTILES, NOT OF THE JEWS.
WHAT SCHLESINGER WORKED OUT AS A DIVISION OF LABOR WAS: THE JEW SHOULD DEVOTE HIMSELF TO TORAH STUDIES, AND THE GENTILE HAS ACCESS AND SHOULD ENGAGE IN SECULAR STUDIES, WHETHER IT'S SCIENCE, WHETHER IT'S MATH, MEDICINE, LITERATURE, OR HISTORY; ALL THOSE SUBJECTS, THAT'S IN THE JURISDICTION OF THE GENTILES, BUT JEWS SHOULD REMAIN COMMITTED TO THE EXCLUSIVE TORAH LIFE.
NOW ACCULTURATION WHICH THE NEO-ORTHODOX EMBRACE, FOR THE ULTRA-ORTHODOX IT IS A TROJAN HORSE; IT WILL TURN JUDAISM INTO A RELIGIOUS CONFESSION, JUST A RELIGION, AND REPUDIATE THE CENTRALITY OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE, THE IDEA OF ETHNICITY AND NATIONALITY, WHO FOR THE ULTRA-ORTHODOX MUST REMAIN "SHALEM" - "WHOLE."
WHAT SCHLESINGER DOES IS A "PLAY" ON THIS WORD "SHALEM" - IT'S SPELLED SHA-L-M, AND HE USED A RABBINIC MIDRASH TO SUGGEST THAT WHAT WE NEED TO DO IN ORDER TO REMAIN "WHOLE" - REMAIN IN-TACT, IS TO PRESERVE OUR "SHEMOT" (NAMES), OUR "LASHON" (LANGUAGE), AND OUR "MALBUSH" (CLOTHING) - NAMES, LANGUAGE, AND DRESS.
HERE'S HOW HE UN-PACKED THAT IDEA.
IN THE LATER PART OF THE 19TH CENTURY AND EARLY 20TH CENTURY, JEWS ARE TAKING ON THE FIRST NAMES OF THEIR NEIGHBORS; SO WE GOT TOM, DICK, HARRY ETC. ACCORDING TO SCHLESINGER WE SHOULD REMAIN WITH TRADITIONAL NAMES - MEDEL, FIDEL, RIFGALAYA - TRADITIONAL JEWISH NAMES.
FURTHER MORE WE SHOULDN'T BE LEARNING THEIR LANGUAGE, THE VERNACULAR OF WHATEVER PLACE THE JEWS WERE LIVING; WE SHOULD REMAIN COMMITTED TO SPEAKING "YIDDISH" AND THEN FOR PRAYER - HEBREW. AND FINALLY "MALBUSH" - WE SHOULD REMAIN DRESSING, IN HIS WAY OF IMAGINING, AS WE'VE ALWAYS DRESSED. THE BLACK HAT AND THE BLACK COAT.
NOW THAT'S THE WAY THE POLISH NOBILITY DRESSED IN THE 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY. AND SO TO IMITATE THE POLISH NOBILITY THE JEWS SHOULD ALSO DRESS LIKE THAT.
WELL, NOW IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY THE POLISH NOBILITY WERE NO LONGER WEARING SUCH THINGS; BUT THIS CONSERVATIVE ELEMENT, THE JEWISH WORLD, CONTINUED TO WEAR SUCH THINGS, AND ACCORDING TO THIS PHILOSOPHY, SHOULD CONTINUE TO WEAR SUCH THINGS, EVEN IN THE HEAT OF THE ISRAEL SUMMER, WHICH CAN GET INTO THE TRIPLE DIGIT FAHRENHEIT; YOU SEE PEOPLE WALKING AROUND ISRAEL WITH BLACK HAT AND THE BLACK GARB. AT LEAST THEY'RE THIN SUITS, DOES NOT HAVE TO BE BLACK WOOL, IT'S JUST THE COLOR HAS TO BE BLACK.
SO FOR THE ULTRA-ORTHODOX, IN ORDER TO REMAIN "WHOLE" - TO REMAIN "IN TACT" - AGAINST THIS ONSLAUGHT OF MODERNITY AND THE NEW TEMPTATIONS TO ACCULTURATE AND JOIN GENTILE CULTURE, WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN IS THE JEWS NEED TO PRESERVE THOSE ELEMENTS OF THEIR PEOPLE-HOOD. SO SCHLESINGER TAUGHT.
AND IT'S IRONIC, IN THE NEXT LECTURE, WE'RE GOING TO SEE A DIFFERENT RESPONSE TO MODERNITY THAT ALSO EMPHASIZES RETAINING THIS ASPECT OF JEWISH PEOPLE-HOOD - ZIONISM - THAT IS AS ILL-RELIGIOUS AS YOU CAN IMAGINE.
SO ON ONE SIDE OF THE PEOPLES SPECTRUM, YOU'VE GOT THE ULTRA-ORTHODOX, WHO DON'T WANT TO CHANGE ANYTHING FROM THE TORAH, AND ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PEOPLE-HOOD SPECTRUM, AS WE'LL SEE IN THE NEXT LECTURE, WE'VE GOT THE ZIONISTS, WHO AREN'T AT ALL COMMITTED TO LEADING A TORAH LIFE, TO SAY THE LEAST.
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TO BE CONTINUED
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