Some Topics for the TIDE Conference

1) How do we educate today's youth in Torah Im Derech Eretz? What are the risks as compared to 100 years ago or 25 years ago?

2) How do we attract people who would be attracted to Torah Im Derech Eretz but just don't know about it?

3) How do we reconcile Hirsch's apparent view towards Zionism with the reality of the State of Israel and the fact that half of Jewry lives there today?

4) Does Austritt still apply in the practice of TIDE?

5) What is your definition of Torah Im Derech Eretz? Does it extend beyond secular studies and parnassah?

6) How do we maintain a virtual community?

7) How might we establish and fund real, geographic communities?

We could each take one of these or each discuss one more more in our respective segments. What are you thoughts?

Guest Post: Frankfurt Purim by Mendy Meyer.

Today marks a day once celebrated in Frankfurt as "Purim Vitz" or "Frankfurt Purim". There is much discussed online about the various "local" Purims- for regional nissim throughout our exile, as well as the Halachos surrounding the institution of a local or private Purim. There is also much historical background discussing the uprising and squashing of Vincent Fettmilch's rebellion and the Pogrom and expulsion he orchestrated upon Frankfurt's Jewish population. Below follows a loose translation of the Sefer Yosef Ometz in it's description of the ironic turn of events and salvation of the Jewish community. Remember that Rav Hirsch ZT'L identifies irony as the source of all humor, and, I would add, that this is behind the added merriment of the Purim festivities. 

"And for the miracles that happened on this day, namely that we were returned to our streets by the Commander and General....with much grandeur, among many nationalities who came out in numbers, in military regalia, flags, horns, and drums. And at that very moment we saw the expulsion of our great enemy Vincent and his followers. And they beheld the great honor bestowed upon us and they were humiliated as they were escorted to prison,some of them, and some were sent from the city to be hung and punished before us. Literally, as we were escorted through the very gate that they were driven from. And we literally passed the stage and (guillotine?) built upon the Rose Mark. And not one of the onlookers accosted us. To the contrary, they helped us clear the refuse that had been piled, blocking the entrance to our quarter. So that the two wagons in our entourage could pass: One wagon carried three distinguished shields with the seal of the Kaiser to be placed at three prominent gates and they were immediately affixed there by soldiers....and the second wagon carrying my father-in-law...who could not walk....May it be Hashem's will that we witness the prophecy fulfilled:"Greater shall be the Temple, the latter than the former. Amen."

http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6102-fettmilch-vincent

http://www.kayj.net/en/forum/nusach/1655-frankfurter-purim

http://www.heritage.org.il/innernet/archives/purim.htm

http://rabbikaganoff.com/from-cairo-to-frankfurt-purim-cairo-and-purim-frankfurt/

Mendy Meyer

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Torah Im Derech Eretz Conference

Plans are in the works for an online conference on Torah Im Derech Eretz. The goal is to have a discussion on how to practice and sustain Torah Im Derech Eretz in our era. Each participant will be given an opportunity of 5 -15 minutes to present with others providing feedback. This will be followed by a round table give and take on several TIDE topics. The entire presentation will be recorded and uploaded to youtube where we hope to attract a wider audience.

We are targeting this for a Sunday afternoon after Pesach.

If you are interested, please comment below or send me an email at TIDE@outlook.co.il.

Explanation of "Has not made me a woman"

"This is not a prayer of thanks that God did not make us heathens, slaves or women. Rather, it calls upon us to contemplate the task which God has imposed upon us by making us free Jewish men, and to pledge ourselves to do justice to this mission. These three aspects of our own status impose upon us duties much more comprehensive than those required of the rest of mankind. And if our women have a smaller number of mitzvot to fulfill than men, they know that the tasks which they must discharge as free Jewish women are no less in accordance with the will and desire of God than are those of their brothers." (Hirsch Siddur, p. 13)

See my recent Hakirah article "Rereading Rav Hirsch on Mitzvos and Gender" for a discussion of how R' Hirsch portrayed men and women as being spiritually equal. Many use him for apologetics, but they do so erroneously in my view.

Hirsch Chumash in the Original German