Question:
It is argued that the religious are not modern, do not keep up with the times, hold
on to something old-fashioned and are unwilling to give it up. Is this so?
Answer: We
are certainly modern, but we are not “Modern Orthodox.” We are modern. We love science and
technology. We know that they are vital for the building of our state. We are
happy about every advance that takes place in society. We give thanks to G-d day
and night for all of the innovations that the times bring: a state and an army,
the return to Zion and the building up of the Land, agriculture and industry.
We know that in all of these, G-d’s hand is at work.
Yet when
it comes to faith and mitzvot, we feel no need to be amongst the innovators.
Quite the contrary, we view with pride our taking the “old” path paved by Avraham
and Moshe, our imbibing the ancient wine, carefully preserved. We have no
pretenses or ambitions about reaching higher than Avraham. We see no need for
any additions to the blessing received by Avraham’s seed, in which they were
called “G-d’s beloved” (Yeshayahu 41:8). Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook writes,
“The essence of Jewish life is summed up entirely in G-d’s loving Israel. This
trait is an accepted fact, without any need for further investigation or
argument” (Igrot Ha-Re’eiyah, vol. 1 p. 43).
We learn
from elderly rabbis, who themselves learned from elderly rabbis, going all the
way back to Moshe. We fill ourselves with the old, and out of the great
quantity of old that we learn, we attain solutions for the new. Rashi comments
on Devarim 11:13, “If you hearken to the old, you will [more easily find
answers] to the new.” In religious matters, every new thing arouses suspicion
and requires precise examination. If it passes the test, it will be accepted
with love. And what is the test? Clarification that the new thing is really
old, and perhaps something old that has been forgotten. We undertake the yoke
of Heaven to fulfill the mitzvah of settling the Land, of building up and
consolidating the state and the country. All of these are old things which have
been postponed throughout our Exile, and now they are being reawoken thanks to
G-d’s kindness.
In his
speech at the Inauguration of Hebrew University, Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook
made a fundamental distinction, saying that we may accept science from the
Western World, but not its spirit. Quite the contrary, the spiritual must
spread from here towards the West (Ma’amarei Ha-Re’eiyah, p. 306). G-d’s word
which comes to us from the Torah and the prophets, by far transcends all the
thoughts of western man. Obviously, we can probably find sparks of goodness in
the West which we would be able to accept. As our Sages said, we have to learn
from the reputable practices of the nations (Sanhedrin 39b). Yet under what
conditions is this so? We must not add to the Torah what it does not contain, G-d
forbid. Rather, we may avail ourselves of the style of the Western World in
order to be able to explain rationally to those who need such explanations, a
minuscule bit of the great light that has come down to us through prophecy
(Agadot Ha-Re’eiyah, ibid.).
Yet we are
not students of western culture, and we must not force the Torah to disguise
itself in western garb in order to receive a western stamp of approval. We
certainly must not strive to make Jewish law fit the spirit of western thought.
We are modern, but not “Modern Orthodox.” We are faithful students of Moshe.
