Torah Umadda
Torah UMadda תורה וםדע - Hebrew , Torah and (secular) knowledge - is a philosophy of Modern Orthodox Judaism, closely associated with Yeshiva University.
In the view of Torah UMadda, Judaism and "the universal concerns and preoccupations of humanity" are not "fundamentally inapposite" and do not therefore require "substantive reconciliation" - rather they are, "in essence part of one continuum". As articulated by Rabbi Norman Lamm: "Torah ... on the one side and worldly knowledge... on the other, together offer us a more over-arching and truer vision than either one set alone. Each set gives one view of the Creator as well as of His creation, and the other a different perspective that may not agree at all with the first ... (but) both together present the possibility of a larger truth." At the same time, the philosphy demands "unquestioned allegiance to the primacy of Torah, and that the apprehension of all other intellectual disciplines must be rooted and viewed through the prism of Torah".
Lamm is careful to point out that Torah UMadda demands, also, strict adherence to Jewish law. “Not a single fundamental of Judaism has been disturbed by us, we adhere to the same ikkarim, we are loyal to the same Torah, we strive for the same study of torah and observance of mitzvot that our parents and grandparents before us cherished throughout the generations.”
Although Torah UMadda regards science and religion as separate, where the "wisdom of the world" maintains its own domain of significance, it nevertheless posits a "synthesis" between the two realms. In Torah UMadda "the integration of secular knowledge with sacred wisdom" takes place "within the personality of the individual". Thus, the realization of Torah UMadda may find "different legitimate expressions in each individual". The philosophy recognizes the challenge this is likely to pose to its adherents, and posits a framework in which "the confrontation between Judaism and secular culture results in heightened creativity within Judaism".
Torah im Derech Eretz, Torah with "worldly involvement", is a parallel philosophy of Modern Orthodoxy, first articulated by Samson Raphael Hirsch in c. 1840. In some senses the two philosophies are largely identical - both value the acquisition of secular knowledge and both demand adherence to halakha. The two are distinct though, in that in the Hirschian view, Derech Eretz - i.e. the acquisition of secular culture and knowledge - is largely functional, whereas here, "the study of worldly wisdom is not a concession to economic necessity, it is de jure not de facto." The distinction, though subtle, is such that those holding to the "narrow interpretation" of Torah im Derech Eretz, are described as being "spiritually very distant" from Yeshiva University. See further discussion on the interpretation of Torah im Derech Eretz.
The philosophy underlying the combination of Torah and secular wisdom at Yeshiva University was variously articulated - the use of the term "Torah u-Madda" was a relatively late development, dating to 1946. The terminology itself is also recent, in Rabbinic literature, "worldly knowledge" is usually referred to as chokhma חכמה.
Yeshiva University publishes the Torah Umadda Journal which "explores the complex relationships between Torah, the humanities, and the natural and social sciences." as well as the Library of Jewish Law and Ethics (published jointly with Ktav publishing House Inc.), monologues on specific topics.
External links and references
- Torah Umadda: The Encounter of Religious Learning and Wordly Knowledge in the Jewish Tradition, Rabbi Dr Norman Lamm, Pub. Jason Aronson, 1990, ISBN 0876688105
- Torah Umadda Revisited (pdf), Rabbi Jacob Schachter
- Some Comments on Centrist Orthodoxy (JPG) Rabbi Dr Norman Lamm
- Torah u-Madda at Yeshiva College(yucommentator, registration req'd), Rabbi Jacob Schachter
- "Torah u'Maddah" and "Torah and Derech Eretz", Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
- Orthodox Judaism and The Liberal Arts, Rabbi Shalom Carmy
- What does Torah U'Madda mean to you?(yucommentator, registration req'd)
- Dilemmas of modern orthodoxy: sociological and philosophical, Prof. Chaim Waxman, Judaism, Winter, 1993
- The Library of Jewish Law and Ethics
- Halakhah and Politics: The Jewish Idea of the State, ISBN 0881251291
- Economics and Jewish Law, ISBN 0881251062
- Economic Public Policy and Jewish Law, ISBN 0881254371
- Judaism and Psychology: Halakhic Perspectives, ISBN 0870687034
- Business Ethics: A Jewish Perspective, ISBN 0881255823
- Contemporary Halakhic Problems (4 vols), ISBN 0870684507, ISBN 0881253154, ISBN 087068275X,
- Jewish Woman in Jewish Law, ISBN 0870683292
- Holocaust and Halakhah, ISBN 0870682962
- Free Enterprise and Jewish Law, ISBN 0870687026
- Medicine in the Bible and the Talmud, ISBN 0881255068
- The Library of Jewish Law and Ethics