Origin of TIDE

 Did Rav Hirsch initiate TIDE? Sounds like the Rambam did it centuries before. Consider these statements from Menachem Kellner, "Today’s Perplexed: Between Maimonidean Promise and Peril," TRADITION 53:4/2021.

Had not Rambam invested his considerable authority behind the project of integrating science and “secular” studies with Judaism, how much room would the Jewish world have made for rationally-oriented Jews in the Middle Ages and today? For Rambam, God, as it were, “wrote” two books: Torah and Cosmos. The truly devout Jew realizes that he or she must study both books, or only have access to half of God’s works. 

Finally, had Rambam not enunciated a universalist vision of Judaism would almost all Jews today be even more particularist than they are? It is my distinct impression that most secular Israeli Jews, and almost all Israeli Orthodox Jews, as well as some secular Jews (to one degree or another) in the Diaspora and almost all Orthodox Jews there, are convinced that there is something inherent, intrinsic, metaphysical, or mystical that distinguishes Jews from non-Jews; on this view the difference between Jew and non-Jew resides in their “hardware,” and not only in the different software they “run.” In this, knowingly or not, they reject Rambam, one of Judaism’s most outspoken universalists. He held that all human beings are truly created in the image of God, period, and insisted that there is no essential difference between Jews and non-Jews.

Rambam emphasizes that Jews and nonJews are all created equal by God and formed “in the same womb,” i.e., there is no essential difference between Jews and non-Jews. 

 Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Slaves 9:8

Similarly, we should not embarrass a slave by our deeds or with words, for the Torah prescribed that they perform service, not that they be humiliated. Nor should one shout or vent anger upon them extensively. Instead, one should speak to them gently, and listen to their claims. This is explicitly stated with regard to the positive paths of Job for which he was praised Job 31:13, 15: "Have I ever shunned justice for my slave and maid-servant when they quarreled with me.... Did not He who made me in the belly make him? Was it not the One who prepared us in the womb?"

Rambam, Hilchos Talmud Torah 3:10.

Anyone who decides to be engaged in Torah [study] and not to work, but, rather, to be supported by tzedukah, this person desecrates G-d’s name, degrades the Torah, extinguishes the light of our faith, brings evil upon himself and forfeits life in the next world, since it is forbidden to derive benefit from the words of Torah in this world.

Society is a factor

The true Law, which as we said is one, and beside which there is no other Law, viz., the Law of our teacher Moses, has for its purpose to give us the twofold perfection. It aims first at the establishment of good mutual relations among men by removing injustice and creating the noblest feelings. In this way the people in every land are enabled to stay and continue in one condition, and every one can acquire his first perfection. Secondly, it seeks to train us in faith, and to impart correct and true opinions when the intellect is sufficiently developed. Scripture clearly mentions the twofold perfection, and tells us that its acquisition is the object of all the divine commandments. Comp. “And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive as it is this day” (Deut. 6:24). Here the second perfection is first mentioned because it is of greater importance, being, as we have shown, the ultimate aim of man’s existence. This perfection is expressed in the phrase, “for our good always.” You know the interpretation of our Sages, “‘that it may be well with thee’ (ibid. 22:7), namely, in the world that is all good, ‘and that thou mayest prolong thy days’ (ibid.), i.e., in the world that is all eternal.” In the same sense I explain the words, “for our good always,” to mean that we may come into the world that is all good and eternal, where we may live permanently; and the words, “that he might preserve us alive as it is this day, “I explain as referring to our first and temporal existence, to that of our body, which cannot be in a perfect and good condition except by the co-operation of society, as has been shown by us.

Maimonides, Guide, 3, 27

You cannot reach intellectual mastery in an undignified society, and society is becoming increasingly undignified. In my opinion, Israeli is no better than any other and in many respects is worse than most.

many pious gentiles recognize the Creator

 Rav Yisrael Lipschutz, the Tiferet Yisrael,  (Yakhin, Sanhedrin 10:2) 

Even without the holy words of our sages who told us this [i.e., that pious gentiles merit olam ha-ba], we would know this from our intellect because “God is just (Tzaddik H') in all His ways and benevolent (chassid) in all His works (ma`asaw).” (Ps. 145:17) We see that many pious gentiles recognize the Creator, believe in the divinity of Scripture, act compassionately toward Israel, and that some have done great things for the entire world.

Could you imagine that these great deeds will not be rewarded in olam ha-ba? God does not withhold the reward of any creature. Even if you say that these pious ones who keep the seven Noachide commandments would not have the status of a ger toshav (resident alien) because they never made a formal acceptance before a court or because we do not accept gerei toshav in our day, since they do not act like Esau they have a portion in olam ha-ba. (Translated by Rav Yitzchak Blau)

https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/883/non-jews-gentiles-in-olam-haba-jewish-afterlife

Rav Schwab on the Parsha

Rav Schwab on the Parsha 

R' Yaakov de Wolff (London) 

"Avrohom rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey; he took his two servants with him, and Yitzchok his son. He split the wood for the offering, and rose to go to the place that Hashem had told him [to go to]” (Bereishis 22:3). The Ramo says (in Shulchan Oruch Ourach Chayim 583:2) that on Roush Hashono it is customary to go to a river to say Tashlich. One of the reasons provided (in his Darchei Moushe there in the name of the Maharil) is based on a Midrash (see Tanchuma Vayeiro 22:12) in which we learn that during the journey with Yitzchok, Avrohom was waylaid by Soton who created a wide river. Avrohom, determined to follow Hashem’s instructions, waded through the river. At one point the water reached his neck, and he cried out to Hashem: 

 Tehillim 69:2 "Rescue me Hashem because the water has reached my neck.”

"הֹושִׁיעֵנִׁי אֱֹלקִׁים כִׁי בָאּו מַיִׁם עַד־נָפֶש" 

It is not clear how precisely how this Midrash connects with the throwing of our transgressions in the water during Tashlich. HoRav Schwab זצ״ל explains that Chazal use water as a symbol for kindness and fire for strict justice (see Gemoro Pesochim 118a, where Gavriel is described as being appointed over fire and Michoel over water). When Soton created a mighty body of water, he was trying to evoke in Avrohom an overwhelming feeling of love and kindness to the point that he would refuse to bring him as a korban. Avrohom realised that without Hashem’s support, these feelings would gain full control over him. When we perform the ritual of Tashlich, when we symbolically throw our transgressions into the water, we ask that they are swallowed up entirely by Hashem’s love for us, until the point that “the transgressions of Beis Yisroel will be thrown to a place where they will not be remembered, will not be counted, and will not be considered for eternity”

Is Yeshiva U TIDE?

Not really. YU is Litvish Judaism with lots of Zionism and a touch of feminism. See Zev Ellef's articles: Between Bennett and Amsterdam Avenues: The Complex American Legacy of Samson Raphael Hirsch, 1939-2013 and AMERICAN ORTHODOXY’S LUKEWARMEMBRACE OF THE HIRSCHIAN LEGACY,1850-1939.

Being more open to things, YU will have some talk about Rav Hirsch and some Chassidus, but even those are approached Litvish style, which means analytically. They are more open to careers in part because Modern Orthodoxy is very expensive with the million dollar houses and day school tuition at $40,000 a year per child. Nobody is encouraging fulfilling careers for men, just ones that make lots of money. 

Hirsch was neither a Zionist nor a feminist nor a Litvack so YU can be a problem but so can be every other group. When I say he wasn't a feminist, I mean a political or gender feminist. He probably did more for women's education than any Jew in the history of klal Yisroel by inspiring the Beis Yaakov movement. However, he argued for traditional roles and I can't imagine him sanctioning those ridiculous pre-nuptial agreements that risk mamzeres, radicalize halacha, and get marriages off on a bad note. 

To be a Hirschian you will walk alone because what's left of the German community is either Modern or Litvish. The few people who describe themselves as Hirschians are usually Zionistic, sometimes intensely so. They rationalize that if Hirsch were around today, he'd be a Zionist. That's what you call delusional rationalization as most Zionists have replaced God and Torah with State and that's exactly what R' Hirsch said not to do. He also said to be cognizant of the dignity and purpose of gentiles. Show me a Zionist who does that. 

So, no, YU is not TIDE. You have to be TIDE on your own. Go for it. R' Hirsch will be by your side, and all the gadolim who praised Hirsch are by your side too because they understood that he was sent by Hashem to help people in their Judaism. 

But you won't be entirely on your own. You can have a foot in many communities. In the Israeli Haredi world you get the anti-zionism of Hirsch. It's a militant anti-zionism because Israel is a militant country but you ignore that part. You also get the religious intensity that was true of Rav Hirsch, although he didn't impose that on others. In the Chassidic world you get the sense of community, more of a focus on God, and a pursuit of happiness. In the Modern O world you get more of a tolerance for earning a parnassah. In the small Yekke world, mostly Wash Heights, you get the German Minhagim. And they all respect Hirsch so you keep that in your back pocket.