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SAMSON RAPHAEL HIRSCH & NACHMAN KROCHMAL.   Term Paper ID:23220 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Examines ideas of two 19th Cent. Jewish intellectuals & relates them to political & spiritual development of state of Israel.... More...

24 Pages / 5400 Words 12 sources, 63 Citations, TURABIAN Format $96.00 Return to List of Papers

Paper Abstract: Examines ideas of two 19th Cent. Jewish intellectuals & relates them to political & spiritual development of state of Israel. Paper Introduction: The purpose of this research is to examine the work of Samson Raphael Hirsch and Nachman Krochmal with reference to the political realities of the State of Israel. The plan of the research will be to set forth the context in which the views of Hirsch and Krochmal emerged vis-a-vis the concept of a Jewish state, and then to discuss nationhood, culture, and human experience that mark that concept and provide relevance for their views in the modern period. To discuss Hirsch and Krochmal with regard to a modern Israel is to note that their intellectual work must be regarded as foundational. Much that is now presumed to be philosophically sound and generally accepted by Jewish tradition regarding the rationale for a Jewish homeland was by and large unthinkable in the early 19th century, when they were elaborating their views of Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. he removedfrom Israel something that diverted it from its [spiritual]mission."[xxxiv] That is in the background of Hirsch's explanation ofspirituality as the essence of Jewish experience: As a people it was to show the peoples that God is the source and giver of all blessings . . Conceiving the Jews as people and not national politicians hasthe effect of explaining the diaspora in terms that make it nearlyacceptable. However, there appears to be a variety ofopinion regarding what constitutes the essence of the Torah for the Jewishpeople. However, Krochmal also posits a renewalof Jewish national identity within the context of the exile, which is tosay a new first stage of national germination and growth. only a great nation of manifold achievements will leave behind numerous traces of its spirituality which can be easily recognized for all generations. "Samson Raphael Hirsch." Great Jewish Personalities in Modern Times. The spirituality led to a new second stage of (spiritual) power andachievement, substantiated by the historical and biblical records showingevidence of a more or less selfdetermining, spiritually based subgroup inSouthern Europe and Asia Minor, from the time roughly equivalent to theGolden Age of Greece to the Imperial Roman period. Hirsch says in the Sixteenth Letter that "theindependent national life of Israel was never the essence or purpose of ourexistence as a nation, but only a means of fulfilling our spiritualmission. The role that an independent Jewish state plays in the philosophy ofKrochmal is secondary to its spiritual role. . Avineri says that Hegel's interpretation of Jewishmonotheism was that it was "bound by the particular historical limitationsof the Jewish people and did not have any impact outside its own veryrestricted boundaries,[xiii] and that Christianity supplanted Judaism andemancipated monotheism from Hebrew tribalism, thus making it a world-historical religion. . Whether or not Israel would possess and retain its land, therefore, depended upon whether or not it would fulfill the demands of the Torah.[xxxv] The historical record of the Jews is that demands were not fulfilled,and this accounts, on Hirsch's view, for the fact that God both punishedthe Jews with the diaspora and provided them with an opportunity to putaway the things of the world in favor of the spiritual essence. and has therefore remained a nation forcenturies."[liii] Thus, says Kaplan, Hirsch "would maintain that sinceIsrael maintained a nation without a land or state, Palestine [as aphysical entity] contributed nothing to the preservation of Israel'snational being during the nineteen centuries of exile."[liv] This arguesthe concept of Israel as an ideal form rather than a practical reality. Meyer(Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1987) 192.Ibid., 197-198,G.F.W. "The main purpose of Galuth (exile)," saysHirsch, "was to make Israel a better nation. Our sages, with profound insight, point to this as the true cause of the first downfall of our nation, "she-lo borchu ba-torah techillah."--"they did not study the Law with the rm resolve to fulfill it in life and for life." Life, practical, everyday life, fled from the Law, and the Law could not therefore properly pervade life; it could not adequately enlighten it and inspire it with the Law's own genial warmth.[li] This provides a foundation for understanding the Torah as themanifestation of a portable homeland and indeed culture for the Jews, andthe connection of this manifestation with the concept of orthodox Jewishconcepts. This explains Jelenko's statement that Hirsch"believed in the historical meaning of the Diaspora situation and theuniversal mission of Israel's religion which was to be fulfilled throughthe dispersal of the people of Israel."[xxiv] A Jewish people confined to a Jewish homeland, on Hirsch's view,would have the effect of confining Israel to a (humanist) particularity.In one sense this argues that Judaism is just a religion; in another itargues that the universality of Judaism, which transcends nationalboundaries and which is symbolized in the diaspora, is possible only ifJudaism does not confine itself to material boundaries of its own. Osmaston. Krochmal develops the idea that the historical record demonstratesthat the persistence of national spirit, or a nation's essence or ultimatereality, has always been subject to the vicissitudes of temporal reality,owing to the corruption of "basic principles and institutions" among thepeople. Krochmal'sauthority in the so-called Historical School identifies him with the viewthat modern relevancies can be adduced from the ancient texts of the Torah. Kaplan, Judaism as a Civilization: Toward aReconstruction of American-Jewish Life (1934; Philadelphia:Jewish Publication Society of America, Reconstructionist Press,1981) 41 ; emphasis in original.Ibid.Nachman Krochmal, "Only an Historical Approach Can PreserveJudaism," Ideas of Jewish History, ed. Simon Novek (Washington, DC:B'nai B'rith Adult Jewish Education, 196 ) 69.Ibid., 9 .Avineri, 14; Jacob Breuer, Introduction, The Nineteen Letters(New York: Feldheim, 1969), 3ff.Jelenko, 91.Samson Raphael Hirsch, The Nineteen Letters (New York:Feldheim, 1969) 1 7.Jelenko, 91.Hirsch, 29.Ibid., 28.Ibid., 6 .Kaplan, 148.Ibid., 147.Ibid.Nathan Rotenstreich, Tradition and Reality: The Impact ofHistory on Modern Jewish-Thought (New York: Random House, 1972)112-13.Kaplan, 149.Hirsch, 6 .Kaplan, 149.Hirsch, 64-65.Krochmal, 2 2.Ibid., 212.Harris, 134.Ibid., 134-135.Kaplan, 136.Ibid., 126.Jelenko, 91.Harris, 131-132.Krochmal, 195.Ibid., 198.Ibid.Jelenko, 88.Ibid.Hirsch, 117.Jelenko, 91.Kaplan, 187.Ibid., 188.Ibid., 189.Ibid., 187-188.Kaplan, 149.Ibid., 79-8 .Kaplan, 149.Breuer, 6.Ibid.Jelenko, 91.Ibid.Avineri, 22.----------------------- 12 [E]very spiritual manifestation possesses an enduring the unlimited mode of existence. As Avineri puts it: "In theemerging world of nations, Krochmal gives a universal significance toJewish history much the same as Alexander Herzen did to Russian history.In this way Krochmal was one of the first to answer the problems of Jewishidentity in a community of nations, and to give that particular answer itsuniversal dimensions."[lxiv] As it turned out, the particularization of those ideas evolved acentury or so later into the Jewish state. Nevertheless, the approach here is quite different, as historical failure is not grounded in God's wrath but in the inevitable immanent forces of decay that result from religious and cultural degradation.[xlv] Krochmal's use of the Torah in his historiographical design has theeffect of distinguishing his views from those of Hirsch, who as we haveseen viewed the diaspora as evidence of God's punishment. This, says Harris, allowsKrochmal to claim the absolute integrity of Jewish spiritual tradition inthe midst of the historical (and persistent) fact of the diaspora, whilealso accounting for the anomaly in Jewish tradition of the divine covenantwith the Jews and their alien status throughout the world. Jelenko describes Hirsch's objection to thistendency: "What happened to the generation which followed Mendelssohn'sacculturation was not only emancipation of the Jews in the political sense,but their emancipation from historical Judaism."[xlix] Thus it was thatHirsch insisted that Jews understand and indeed "acquire all the values ofthe non-Jewish world," while at the same time they "uphold 'the sovereigntyof the Torah within a given civilization.'"[l] Initially, this may seem like a contradiction, but Hirsch's views maybe best understood as a preference for an unambiguous experience ofspiritual Judaism within another culture's humanist emphasis, as opposed toan amalgamation of spiritual Judaism with humanism as such. This point is made by Kaplan, who says that on the Neo-Orthodox view, "dispersion of Israel among the nations is by no means anunqualified evil. The Greek contribution in the field of aesthetics, like the Roman contribution in the field of statecraft, basically relates to the world of externalities and, hence, is particular. Bell & Sons Ltd., 192 .Hirsch, Samson Raphael. . Bell & Sons Ltd., 192 ) 245.Jay M. Even more dangerous, however, according to Hirsch, was the threat toJewish spiritual culture. God,not man--and certainly not a man of the state--is the fundament of Jewishidentity and nationhood. As Kaplanexplains, the neo-Orthodox view of emancipation was that it proved that"the Jews are everywhere 'tolerated and protected and even accepted ascitizens,' [and] for the first time since they have been dispersed, theyhave the opportunity to live the Israel life in all its grandeur."[lix] Itwas in the context of emancipation that Hirsch could put forward the notionthat a Jew would separate his unique spirituality from his common link tonon-Jews in Germany, resulting in a situation in which loyalty to a Germanstate was possible for a Jew. This denial of historical experience of Jews, however, presents several kinds of problems. In it is our basis and our goal, from it flows the vital fluid in our veins. The Torah, the fulfillment of God's will, was to be its soil, its basis and its purpose. Hegel, Philosophy of Fine Art, vol. In the true State, laws, customs, and rights, in so far as they constitute the determinations of freedom applicable to all, are of paramount force even in this universal and abstract relation, and are not conditioned in their applicability by the chance requirements of an individuals idiosyncrasy.[vii]One could also say that the universal is not conditioned by thevicissitudes of the historical record. Krochmal identifies threestages of the natural order of national history, at least as far as "allthe nations which possess a limited manifestation of the spirit" areconcerned: that of the nation's germination and growth, that of power andachievement, and that of decomposition and extinction.[xxxviii] On theHegelian view, the Jews passed through all three stages, to be supplantedby monotheistic Christianity. . This is particularly apparent in the work of Krochmal. But all this begs the question of what world the proponents of Israelas an idea instead of phenomenon are living in, and this brings up thequestion of the significance of the state of Israel as a fait accompli.Kaplan, who acknowledges that the strength of formal Jewish tradition "madepossible the cultural and spiritual interaction of world-jewry"[lv] in self-governing subgroups of a variety of mainstream communities. All of Israel's Galuthhistory is one vast alter upon which it sacrificed all that men desire andlove, all for the sake of the acknowledgment of God and His Law."[xxxvii] Krochmal's discussion of the diaspora is more systematic, and framedin a discussion of the cycles of Jewish history. Hirsch was in favor of emancipation, and active in Europe in thegeneration immediately following the opening of the ghettos. Land and soil were never Israel's bond of union.[xxv] Jelenkoelaborates further on Hirsch's emphasis on the spiritual but not phenomenalreality of Israel: This theory was based on the supposition that the modern state, being purely "humanistic," has no concern with any religious ideology and that, therefore, loyalty to and full participation in all activities of a Christian society do not encroach upon the content of Judaism. . Irrespective of views of the legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish state,the precarious history of Jewish culture in 2 thCentury Europe does nothingso much as support the view that Krochmal's interpretation of Jewishhistory tends to explain the persistence and prominence of Jewish culturein a modern period dominated by non-Jewish culture. Philosophy of Fine Art. . Judaism as a Civilization: Toward a Reconstruction of American-Jewish Life. Breuer says that Hirsch "knew only too well thatthe future of his people depended not on its political status but on itsspiritual power."[lxi] This latter view is in the nature of a theological-philosophical opposition to a corrupted spirituality, and it argues fromthe vantage point of faith. And spirituality as the spirit of a nation,he says, "reveals to the observer the unique mode of self-development whichsets it [the spirit of a nation] apart from every other integrated andorganized nation. For Hegel, the ultimate spiritualmanifestation is that of freedom as realized in the state, a point that hemakesthroughout his works: In order to make clear the actual character of the reality which is most adapted to Ideality [i.e., Spirit] we will contrast it with that aspect of existence which is not so adapted. Muchthat is now presumed to be philosophically sound and generally accepted byJewish tradition regarding the rationale for a Jewish homeland was by andlarge unthinkable in the early 19th century, when they were elaboratingtheir views of Judaism. The absolute nature of the Jewish spiritual message wasnot in itself compromised; only the institutions that carried that messagedegenerated."[xli] Such an interpretation amounts to an apologia for thetraditional view of the past from a Jewish perspective, according toKaplan, which makes Krochmal's view of history both historical andmetahistorical. . This was based on . However, we have also seenthat Krochmal's intellectual disposition is not inconsistent with theemergence of a Jewish state, as long as that state is itself notinconsistent with the best of Jewish culture. "Jews," by Nahum NorbertGlatzer.Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, s.v. This is the case in the life of the State, where that life is manifested in a form adequate to the true notion of citizenship . An Orthodox Jew prays--as it were--outside the world in which he actually lives, and then returns to this world to which his prayers do not pertain.[xxxiii] Hirsch's view of the nature of the Jewish diaspora and exile is anattribute of a particular view of history or more exactly of the Jews inhistory. . . . Both approaches had deleterious effects on Jewish communal existence in the modern era. God directed the children of Israel to Egypt, there to be enslaved and ultimately redeemed. Relationships between Jews and other peoples are basically tangential and do not affect the metaphysical essence of the Jews. Israel's existence as a nation, therefore, was neither dependent upon, nor conditioned by transitory things, but eternal as the spirit, as the soul and as the Word of the Eternal.[xxix] This is the central argument of The Nineteen Letters, combining aview of Judaism's spiritual essence with a view of the social and politicalposition that the properly spiritual Jew holds, not only in Germany butalso in the rest of the world. Reformism, on his view, was the culprit, which in itspermissiveness in regard to religious observance had the effect ofcorrupting that identity. Indeed, neither Hirsch nor Krochmal can bediscussed without special reference to the Emancipation, the name given tothe laws that formally opened the Jewish ghettos throughout Europe in 1791,as an indirect consequence of the French Revolution.[i] This did not bringa complete end to Jewish persecutions, and it was not until 187 that thefirst Zionist settlement was made in Palestine at Petah Tiqwa.[ii]Nevertheless, by examining the views of Krochmal and Hirsch, and even whilenoting the antipathy toward Zionism either expressed or implied in theirwork, one may come closer to the philosophical underpinnings of Zionistculture in its earliest elaboration and of the modern state of Israelitself. As Breuer explains, "While Hirsch emerged infavor of Emancipation which he viewed as a gift of Providence that shouldprovide the Jewish people with inalienable rights and a broader opportunityof observing the Torah, he also saw it as a trial of his people in Galutand pointed incessantly to the concrete danger of assimilation in the wakeof Emancipation."[lx] The danger was concrete to the extent assimilationwould take place at the cultural level, and the distinctive Jewish culturecould be overtaken by secular or secular-Christian cultural norms; this wasthe danger of Reformist acculturation. The content of Judaism is therefore equal to the content of philosophy--the Idea--and this is the reason for the ability of the Jews to transcend time and place.[xv] Krochmal's overtaking of the Hegelian view of spiritual manifestationrelies on the preeminence of monotheism as the decisive contribution tohistory, and more, of the adoption of monotheism by other cultures as afundamental value--a fact confirmed by history. This is true of its fine arts, mode of government, laws,education, and the like, and true, as well, of its worship and knowledge ofGod."[xlvi] Jewish national life is Jewish spiritual life, on Krochmal'sview. . Moreover, to the degree anindependent Jewish state might be conceived as a real possibility, Krochmalappears to have resisted the real-world implications of developing theconcept in any detail, not so much because he was opposed to the prospectof Jewish culture's gaining something as because of what Jewish culturemight lose. London: Macmillan, 197 .Kaufmann, Walter. Edited by Simon Novek. In any case, the bond betweenpolitics and history that is implicit in Krochmal's method is suited to theHegelian model and has the effect of accounting for the intrinsic structureand meaning of Jewish culture, while also enriching, challenging, orclarifying historical interpretation of the wider culture of which Jewishtradition is a--or the, as Krochmal sees it--significant part. 1, trans. F.P.B.Osmaston (London: G. This marks Krochmal's variation on Hegelian theory forthe Jewish nation. . London: G. Krochmal says that it is the "manifestation of the divine," containing,unifying, and binding together the nation that it represents, "internallywith regard to place and time, from generation to generation."[xlviii] Hirsch's view of the Torah is not inconsistent with that of Krochmal;however, he appeals far more to the Torah's spiritual authority than to itsgrandeur, at least as far as influencing the day-to-day practice of Judaismis concerned. Ultimately, Krochmal's vision of the nature of the emergence of Jewish culture within the nation should be seen as grappling with the denial of Jewish nationhood that emerged with the Berlin Haskalah and later became a basic tenet of Reform Judaism.[lviii] But we have seen that embedded within Krochmal's views arephilosophical arguments that have the effect of legitimating whateverclaims for a Jewish state might be made. His was the passive hope ofbringing the redeemer through righteous conduct rather than by activeparticipation in the attainment of political independence of thenation."[xliv] No historical or contemporary account of Jewish experience can justlyomit reference to the Torah. What is significant about history, rather than the mere facts ofhistory, is the key to historical understanding. The purpose of this research is to examine the work of Samson RaphaelHirsch and Nachman Krochmal with reference to the political realities ofthe State of Israel. New York: New York University Press, 1991.Hegel, G.F.W. Hegel: A Reinterpretation. It makes moresense, Krochmal says, to rethink the dates that certain Psalms were writtenand to focus on the collective memory of greatness that they inspire; inthat way the words "become a flashing fire, a flame of the Lord, and a suretestimony to the magnitude and depth of their infinite love for their land,their people, and their God."[v] On Krochmal's view, meaning, andparticularly spiritual meaning, can be used to explain facts, and anomalousfacts need not be accepted at face value in order to reach meaning.Interpretation, not rote memorization, of facts is the key to a crediblehistory. In 193 s Germany and 194 s Europe,spiritual and secular Jews, Reform Jews and Orthodox Jews, Jews who thoughtthey were German, and Germans who had forgotten they were Jews weremurdered alike, in service of a state policy that alike deplored Hegelianfreedom, Jewish tradition, Christian tradition, humanism, and spirituality,and in the face of international politics that considered Judaism prettymuch an afterthought. . This fact is connected to Hirsch's analysis of what he sawas the increasing acculturation of the Jewish community in the largerEuropean community, leading to the ultimate disappearance of Jewishidentity. We find the latter pre-eminently where the ethical notion, that is, justice and rational freedom, have already won for themselves and maintain a fixed position in the social order regulated by law, so that, even in the external world, it appears as a positive and necessary power, which is quite independent of the individuality and subjectivity of the specific temperament an characters. But to the extent that it is spiritual in its essence, it will undoubtedly survive as legacy to another nation close to it in space or time . Harris, Nachman Krochmal: Guiding the Perplexed of theModern Age (New York: New York University Press, 1991) 118.Walter Kaufmann, Hegel: A Reinterpretation (Notre Dame, Indiana:University of Notre Dame Press, 1978) 266.Shlomo Avineri, The Making of Modern Zionism: The IntellectualOrigins of the Jewish State (New York: Basic Books, 1981) 15.Krochmal, 194.Ibid., 195.Avineri, 17.Ibid.Ibid., 18-19.Harris, 1 3.Ibid., 122.Avineri, 14.Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, S.v. Krochmal's view of the diaspora is that it had theeffect of revitalizing Jewish spiritual consciousness. As well,however, it demonstrates Krochmal's view that the principles of the Torahbecome the foundation for the persistence of the Jewish culture ofspirituality within the diaspora. . It may also be noted, afterAvineri, that Krochmal's philosophy is in the intellectual traditionfeeding Zionism, and that his historiography does appear to lay at leastpart of the foundation for modern Zionism. According toKaplan, Krochmal's approach was to find relevant and universal meaningbehind the concrete symbol or mere fact, even though the symbol may haveappeared antique: "By making accessible and intelligible numerous factswhich seemed to have relevance only in the traditional setting, byfurnishing the modern Jew with a connected and plausible account of theJewish past, they have revitalized the ancient texts and have made possiblethe retention of the Torah in its widest sense as an object of Jewishconsciousness."[iv] What is lost in the programmatically interpretiveapproach to history is scientific or factual precision, says Kaplan.However, the emphasis on making meaning rather than reciting facts has theeffect of providing a context for immediate understanding on one hand and(assuming such historicism would not resist new challenges that might bepresented by new facts) further interpretation. Michael A. Krochmal concurs with Hegel that the Jewish contribution to world history has been the idea of monotheism, yet he develops this idea in an original way. "Jews," by Nahum NorbertGlatzer.Harris, 8 -81.Edward W. For Krochmal, the Torah appears to be a decisive determinant ofthe historical as well as spiritual consciousness of the Jews. .in their denial of Jewish nationality."[lxiii] Krochmal's position, as wehave seen, seems more difficult to pin down. As values have changed, so has the permanence of the concretemanifestations of such values; hence the decline and even disappearance ofnations. . . Thus can the diaspora be seen 13 as theexpression of the will of God. Kaufmann's reading ofPhenomenology of Spirit cites Hegel's "hyperbolic dictum that all of man'sspiritual actuality and value depend on the state: Hegel refersspecifically to the moral-ethical dimension and to art, religion, andphilosophy; but beyond that he considers the state as the hearth of allthat raises man above the brutality of beasts."[ix] Krochmal'sconcepts of nationhood and nation building are derived from and consistentwith the Hegelian system,[x] but Krochmal distinguishes between Jewish andnon-Jewish nation building. It rests on a view of history that must be managed in such a way that the inner life of Judaism always remains untouched....... "Only an Historical Approach Can Preserve Judaism." Ideas of Jewish History. Thus the historical existence ofPalestine ensured that future generations of Jews would "hope for therecovery of Palestine in [their] every move and turn,"[lvi] in a practicalas well as idealistic way. Harris,indeed, finds a connection between Krochmal's historiography and hissectarianism, based on an attachment to "traditional language andconcepts," at least as far as a specifically Jewish identity is concerned.As Harris explains it: Krochmal retains the concept of chosenness as traditionally understood. The plan of the research will be to set forth thecontext in which the views of Hirsch and Krochmal emerged vis-a-vis theconcept of a Jewish state, and then to discuss nationhood, culture, andhuman experience that mark that concept and provide relevance for theirviews in the modern period. It assumes there can be a union of Torah and derekh eretz, albeit a superficial and mechanical one, that does not influence the content of Torah . Meyer. Along the same lines, Jelenko says that theneo-Orthodox position was that "only divine providence can bring about therealization of the Messianic hopes and that only God can redeem Israel.Therefore, to put one's trust in political arrangements would reflect upondivine power."[lxii] It may be speculated without difficulty that Hirsch would have viewedan independent Jewish state in Israel with disdain. . Reformism, in Hirsch's view,corrupts the essence of Judaism, and for that reason Hirsch insists onsomething like a back-to-basics observance of Mosaic law. . As Harris says, "Krochmal speaks of nations rather than statesas the bearers of culture, religious and otherwise. In no small measure, however,did that state owe something to the attempt to eradicate Jewish identityfrom history altogether. Thesubtext allows Hirsch to explain the Israelites' loss of the historicalkingdom of David and Solomon, as well as the absence of a phenomenologicalpresence of a state of Israel in subsequent periods. . Jelenko says that Hirsch held that the Torah isthe sole criterion and the basic purpose of Jewish peoplehood."[lii]Hirsch, explains Kaplan, insisted that "Israel was a nation long before itpossessed land and state . Rotenstreich says that Hirsch's interpretation of the position ofJews as the cultural aliens in political history is tantamount to adeclaration that Jews "were exempt from the historical process because thereligious truth imparted to them anteceded that process." Rotenstreichcontinues, in a critique ofthis view: From Hirsch's point of view, the relationship between Jews and Torah is not comparable with the relationship between other peoples of the world and derekh eretz [worldly life of Jews]; the Jews dwell outside the stream of history and others within it. . In this regard,Jelenko says that Hirsch's critics attribute Hirsch's opposition to Zionismas based on a reluctance to abandon German patriotism and loyalty, "whichwere constantly stressed by both traditionalists and modernists alike.Unwittingly, he was driven thereby to surpass his Reform opponents . Kaplanexplains that the diaspora "taught Israel a true sense of values, thatwealth and power constituted but temporary goods," and "served as atraining school in the exercise of true heroism,"[xxxvi] inasmuch as itensured that the non-Jewish nations of the world were bound to engage inpersecution of the alien culture. The Religion of Ethical Nationhood: Judaism's Contribution to World Peace. In discussing the Scriptures [i.e.,Torah], Krochmal explains that spirituality is fundamental to theuniqueness of Jewish tradition and that such spirituality is very much thefoundation of the Scriptures. Hirsch's view isthat it had a positive historic meaning, and that it was manifestation of"the universal mission of Israel's religion which was to be fulfilledthrough the dispersal of the people of Israel. The state is anearlier stage of development, and apparently, may be superseded."[lvii]The problem for Krochmal with speaking of a Jewish state, particularlyafter Hegel, appears to have been that the realities of Jewish experiencewere such that they could not be comfortably asserted in a context inwhich, from Hegel's standpoint, Jewish history was marginalized, and fromthe standpoint of universalist philosophical advocacy, distinct Jewishculture would be marginalized. Only in the2 th century does it appear to have become clear that emancipation was ahalfmeasure and that, absent an authentic commitment by the state tofreedom as Hegel(!) conceived it, the hope of cultural coexistence withoutassimilation was as untenable as separate-but-equal existence in aputatively assimilated culture. Harris attributes the latter standpoint toSpinoza and the French philosophes. Krochmal suggests that if the whole Hegelianschema of world history has validity, it cannot overlook such a conspicuouscase of a people not fitting into its overallpattern."[xiv] Avineri continues: Here Krochmal uses Hegel's own theories to refute him while constructing his argument within the Hegelian framework itself. Jelenko, "Samson Raphael Hirsch," Great JewishPersonalities in Modern Times, ed. New York: Basic Books, 1981.Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, S.v. Harris takes the viewthat Krochmal seeks "to justify traditional Jewish understanding of theJewish place in the world," which is connected to the idea that Jews are defacto a social subgroup but also "the bearers of absolute spirit," whichmakes "Jewish culture vital and alive."[xx] However, it is not too much tosay that Krochmal's interpretation provides a philosophical basis forarguing the legitimacy of a physical and political entity known as theJewish nation. The Jewish contribution of monotheism directly relates to the Absolute Spirit, which is the content of history itself. This is so since its spirit will be extinguished only to the degree that it is bound in space and time, i.e., peculiar to a specific land or generation. Tradition and Reality: The Impact of History on Modern Jewish Thought. . "Jews," by Nahum Norbert Glatzer.Harris, Jay M. AsHarris puts it, Krochmal sees the manifest reality of Jewish spirituality"dependent on material structures that are subject to all the vicissitudesof history . . The political aspects of Jewish culture are connected to itsclaim for legitimacy and standing in the scheme of Western culture as awhole--not to say for its very survival. S.R. So too, Krochmal remained committed to the essential program of the Deuteronomist, insisting on the relationship between one's faith in God and historical destiny. But this goes to the heart of a World Spirit view ofhistory and reality, and it is perfectly consistent with Hegel's view ofwhat is absolute or universal. Harris says that Krochmal does not challengeHegel head on but rather shows "that Jewish tradition is insulated form theinevitable demise modern historical thinking demands, by virtue of itsunique conception of God as absolute spirit."[xvii] This assumesimportance for Jewish claims in the modern period because Jewish history,however systematically and objectively approached, has perforce aparticularized political component that persists throughout Westernhistory. Nation building, on this view, not only isbut also must be a function of spirituality, not the vicissitudes of nation-state politics and frontiers and boundaries. Hegel, Avineri says, "hadno answer to this problem. Absolute adherence to the spirit and letter of the Torah arguesthat the homeland Israel iswherever there is a Jew, and that indeed appears to be the core of Hirsch'sargument for orthodoxy. "Israel."Mordecai M. . the nation'sgod."[xlvii] We have seen that Krochmal identifies the monotheistic god ofthe Jews as the decisive contribution of Judaism to world history, and nowwe see that at the core of that contribution is the authority of the Torah. It was to become holy not by participating in the worldly activities of other nations, but by preaching the sanctity of humanity by the example of its own life. When God deprived Israel of its land . In effect, therefore, Krochmal equates theScriptures with spirituality. In thisregard, it is essential to note again Hirsch's specific distinction betweenhistorical and spiritual realms and his apparent belief that they couldremain separate. God chose Abraham--after the latter rejected idolatry-- and his progeny to be his people, and revealed his law to them that they may succeed. . raised to thelevel of universality," which is to say the governing principle of culture. While all the contributions of other nations to world history have been of a particular nature, the Jewish contribution has been of a universal nature. It received, therefore, the gifts of a land and of statehood, not, however, as an end unto itself, but solely as a means for carrying out the Torah. There is no evil, no wrongful development in Judaism which does not owe its origin to the improper or sinful conception of the Torah. Both Krochmal and Hirsch point to the unique quality of Jewishspirituality as fundamental to Jewish history. 69-96.Kaplan, Mordecai M. But Kaplanultimately rejects Hirsch's analysis as one that ignores the fact thatIsrael's self-concept was reduced to scriptural elaboration after theoriginal state had become a reality. Also rescinded might be what could be called the remnant ofJewish culture and significance in the scheme of world history. This definition allows Hirsch to reject reformistand assimilationist tendencies within the Jewish community, while alsoomnivorously accepting the legitimacy of political and claims on Jewsresiding in an alien culture and state. Similarly, the entire history of this period is described as the result of divine providence. His discussion of the typical nationalcommunity owes something to Hegel's conception of the state as the ultimaterepository of human value, citing that "arts, virtues, language concepts,books of wisdom, and concepts of god" are contained "within the context ofa large and well-integrated society, joined together, generation aftergeneration, by ties of mutual cooperation."[xi] This describes the Spiritof a nation, specifically the "whole spiritual treasure" or Volksgeist ofthe totality."[xii] Whereas for Hegel the preeminent spiritual manifestation is freedom,for Krochmal it is monotheism, which is the unique spiritual treasure andlegacy of Judaism. Washington, DC: B'nai B'rith Adult Jewish Education, 196 . When in TheNineteen Letters he says that "we must strive to know the extent andbearing of the Mitzvoth, the commandments, from the written and Oral Law"and that "we must read the Torah in Hebrew,[xxvii] Hirsch is reclaimingorthodox norms in the service of the spirituality of Judaism. Krochmal's overall approach on one hand has consistency with theHegelian concept of the World Spirit, but on the other it makes aphilosophical claim for status of a world view that Hegel dismisses ashistorical parochialism. Jerusalem: Feldheim Publishers, 1969.Jelenko, Edward W. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1987. The present point is that Hirsch's definition ofthe reality and indeed superiority of Israel as an ideal but notphenomenological form. Krochmal's dilemma appears tohave arisen from a recognition of the hard realities of Jewish experiencein 19th-century Europe and the very real likelihood that emancipation couldbe rescinded. 189214.Rotenstreich, Nathan. In referring to Hegel'sphilosophical elaboration of the historical record, Harris says that Hegelconceived of world history as "the process of the development of spirit andthe consciousness of freedom";[viii] indeed, Hegel implies that the stateconsciously forms itself with reference to freedom. New York: Random House, 1972.-----------------------Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia, s.v. The Making of Modern Zionism: The Intellectual Origins of the Jewish State. As a result, the national component of Jewish identity was being denied. In this respect the manifestation of spirit is likewise finite and no doubt perishes. Krochmal makes this pointwhen he deplores attempts of scholars to account for the attribution of thePsalms to King David, even though they contain direct reference to thelater Babylonian Captivity, by insisting on the traditional historicaldating while also pointing to their prophetic quality. Harris says that thisis a clever use of "conclusions of modern biblical scholarship, and theconclusions developed regarding the emergence of the rabbinic tradition, toargue against those who would claim that Jewish creativity ceased with theclosing of the biblical canon, or even before."[xl] The historical decline of the vitality of the Jewish community offaith as Krochmal describes it coincides with the increasinginstitutionalization of the Empire and the emergence of Christianity. If our relationship to the Torah healthy and normal, then Israel can suffer no ill; if it is unhealthy, Israel cannot be well. It everywhere became 'the spiritof wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit ofknowledge and fear of the Lord'" (Is. This, Kaplan characterizes as ahistoriographical strategy designed to "establish the eternality of Israel,without contesting the historical rules demanded by the age."[xliii]Meanwhile, it is easy enough to point to the embrace of Jewish monotheismby historical peoples as Hegel understands them. Translated by F.P.B. It follows that the Torah is central to Jewish national life.Later, Krochmal says that "the composite spirit of each nation is what theTorah and the earlier prophets call in concrete language . Kaplan explains that the Neo-Orthodox view of Jewish nationhood is that "ordinary worldly attributes ofnationality would only detract from the true character as a nation,[xxx]and that as a nation "it is consecrated to the task of proving by its modeof life the possibilities of holiness that inhere in the humanbeing."[xxxi] Hirsch insists on the preeminence of the Torah in thisregard; Kaplan notes the attitude of self-effacement[xxxii] vis-a-vis thenon-Jewish culture in which Judaism resides. Krochmal describes the first stage in,Jewish history with reference to the Pentateuch, the second with referenceto the reigns of David and Solomon, and the third with reference to theconfusion after Solomon's death. But whereas Krochmal usesthat spirituality to interpret Jewish history and make it relevant to thewhole of human history, Hirsch uses it to set the overwhelming spiritualreality of Jews outside human history so as to make such history irrelevantto Jewish experience. 2 vols. Historical events, particularly the Holocaust, were toprove him wrong, but the commitment to spirituality as the defining featureof Jewish experience may equally be noted. But the spiritual achievements, he says, Krochmal countsas "a level of sophistication that could not be transcended."[xlii] Oneeffect of this is to separate Jewish spirituality from history itself,which places Krochmal's interpretation of the world historical processbeside rather than within Hegel's scheme. The problem with this interpretation, says Avineri,following Krochmal, is that Judaism did not disappear after the Jews madetheir historical contribution to world spirit. Indeed, responding to these challenges was particularly critical insofar as their representatives made concrete demands on the Jewish community, to which the latter, hopeful of achieving emancipation, were responding. The Nineteen Letters. 1934; Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, Reconstructionist Press, 1981. Endnotes BibliographyAvineri, Shlomo. Avineri makes the pointthat "only in Jewish monotheism is this spirituality . Judaism makes no demands onthose outside that community, although in the purest worldly expressions ofits holiness and spiritual essence it does stand as an example to allcommunities. "Israel."Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia. Hirsch's concept of nationhood and nation building cannot beunderstood apart from the fact of his development, in the 19th century, ofneo-Orthodoxy in Germany.[xxi] His understanding of the Jewish nation isthat of a spiritual community, "united by a strictly defined creed and bycertain principles of behavior rather than by the feeling of a commondestiny and solidarity."[xxii] Hirsch's analysis of the Jewish nation mustbe understood in the context of the post-Napoleonic emancipation of theghettoes[xxiii] on one hand and the tendency toward Reformism on the other. Meanwhile, the absolutecharacter of Hirsch's commitment to the Torah as the defining fact ofJudaism may also be remarked: The very essence of Israel's being rests upon the Torah. Thus the Jewish contribution is not bound by time and space because it is itself absolute and universal and not subject to the ebb and flow of historical development. That is partly in the background of Hirsch's statement thatJudaism "is a historical phenomenon."[xxviii] However, it becomes clearthat the subtext of that statement, particularly for the modern period, isthat Judaism is even more a metahistorical phenomenon, the importance ofwhich lies in its spiritual content and in particular in the degree towhich its followers enact the principles of its spiritual content. As Jelenko explains, Hirsch sought to preserve the spiritual and observantnorms of orthodox Judaism as a way of resisting entire assimilation andloss of identity in the wider German culture, even as he sought to make noclaims for a specific and programmatic Jewish political presence within oropposed to Germany. . His view of thediaspora is that although Jews became strangers in multivaried strangelands, "a great new spirituality now appeared within the nation, in each ofthe Diaspora settlements that made it up. In discussing the Torah as a way of life for modern Jews, Kaplan cites asa guiding principle that "the primary requisite for the continuity ofJewish consciousness is not blind acceptance of the traditional beliefs,but a vital interest in the objects upon which those beliefs werecentered."[iii] In other words, a historical rather than legalistconsciousness governs acceptance of culturally definition. the notion that the Jewish religion has no connection with political reality and the national existence of the Jewish people.[xxvi] From this idea follows Hirsch's rejection of Zionism, a point towhich we shall return. In The Nineteen Letters, the demands that Hirsch makes are only onthe community of faith, but they are absolute. 31, 11:2).[xxxix] Krochmal goes onto say that the spiritual renewal was part of God's covenant with the Jewsnoted in Deuteronomy 3 , which concerns the restoration for His penitentexiles. Edited by Michael A. A younger contemporary of Hegel, Krochmal had "witnessed thevicissitudes that overtook [Galicia] in the wake of the Napoleonicwars."[xviii] Napoleon had enfranchised the Jews by decree in 1791, but in1815, after Napoleon's defeat, there were organized efforts across Europeto force Jews back into ghettoes, which lasted until 186 .[xix] Thesefacts lend credence to Krochmal's approach to the degree they are evidenceof the precarious history of Jewish culture in Europe. S.v. Harris describes this idea as Krochmal's equation of monotheism as Judaismembraced it with absolute spirit or ground of being or God.[xvi] It isthis idea that accounts for two things: the persistence of Judaismthroughout the diaspora, and, more indirectly, the claims for legitimacy ofa Jewish culture manifest as a political entity. To discuss Hirsch and Krochmal with regard to a modern Israel is tonote that their intellectual work must be regarded as foundational. Thus its poetic literary arts as well as its legal system become the inheritance of the entire human race and of its total fund of spirituality; thereby they continue to function for all time.[vi] Krochmal's concept of spiritual manifestations may seem an oxymoronexcept as it may be distinguished from a concept of concrete manifestationsof the spiritual. . As so often happens with intellectual traditions,pro and con, and however deeply felt, events overtake ideas. The concepts of nationhood and nation building in the period of theEmancipation are very much a feature of cultural and intellectual history. Events overtook Krochmal's metaphysical dilemma ofhistory and Hirsch's orthodox reading of spiritual history, resultingfinally in making the state of Israel a form of self-defense for sectarianJudaism and Jewish culture itself. Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1978.Krochmal, Nachman. . Nachman Krochmal: Guiding the Perplexed of the Modern Age. 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