Melave Malka, Motzoei Shabbos Parshas Vayechi, January 3, 2015

This Motzoei Shabbos Parshas Vayechi, January 3, KAJ is hosting a Melave Malka. This notice is a bit late as they had wanted reservations by the 10th, but I thought perhaps the TIDE Society might have a mini get-together within the Melave Malka. I don't know about you, but I feel like a sole practitioner of TIDE much of the time and would benefit from an actual face to face with some other believers in this derech. So if you'd like to attend, let me know and I'll see if they have any more room. They likely do. I can be reached at thetidesociety@gmail.com.

Note, KAJ events are done in good German form, with actual place settings and people that don't double dip. They are dignified yet down to earth affairs. I really enjoy them. The older generation of WH comes out and they are a joy to spend time with.

 Melave Malka, Motzoei Shabbos Parshas Vayechi, January 3, 2015  – Guest Speaker, Eytan Kobre, Esq. – 7:30 PM – 90 Bennett Avenue

From the YSRH Yeshiva Newsletter: Rav Hirsch on עולה and שלמים

"Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch זצ"ל says that יעקב was the first of the אבות to bring a שלמים, rather than an עולה. He explains that an עולה is completely burnt to ה'. A שלמים, however, is eaten by the owner and his family. By doing so, the owner makes his house holy and signifies that ה' is amongst his family.

"The concept of an עולה, to totally give oneself to ה', is also found among Non-Jews. This concept of making one’s everyday activities—such as eating—holy is only found by Jews. Therefore, יעקב was able to bring a שלמים, now that he has become שלם with his whole family."

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(posted with permission)


 

Before and After

The Western World before the 1960s:

"That is why the Jew rejoices whenever and wherever culture elevates people to a perception of true values and to nurture goodness."  Hirsch on Genesis 3:24

The Western World after the 1960s:

"But of course where culture and civilisation are used in the service of sensuality the degeneration only gets all the greater."  Hirsch on Genesis 3:24

The Curriculum at Volozhin

"…[T]he students of Volozhin were quite knowledgeable in secular studies: they took an interest in science, history and geography and knew many languages. In fact, those students who desired to pursue these disciplines succeeded in learning twice as much as any student at a state institution. In Volohzin, Torah and derech eretz walked hand in hand, neither one held captive by the other. It was the special achievement of the Volozhin student that when he left the yeshiva, he was able to converse with any man in any social setting on the highest intellectual plane. The Volohzin student was able to conquer both worlds — the world of Torah and the world at large. A well-known adage among parents who were trying to best educate their children was, “Do you want your child to develop into a complete Jew, dedicated to Torah and derech eretz? Do you want him to be able to mingle with people and get along in the world? Send him to Volozhin!"  Torah Temimah, (MUtN, pg 204) in The Curriculum at Volozhin

Widsom from the Gentiles: the founder of Kindergarten

German-born Friedrich Frobel, the founder of the first kindergarten, wrote, “Education consists in leading man, as a thinking intelligent being, growing into self-consciousness, to a pure and unsullied, conscious and free representation of the inner law of Divine unity and in teaching him ways and means thereto.”

(The History of Kindergarten from Germany to the United States,” Christina More Muelle, Florida International University)

You see here the wholesome religious sensibility that was demonstrated by many 19th century German gentiles and can better understand the environment in which Hirsch's Torah Im Derech Eretz was forged.