R. ELI MANSOUR WROTE in his Daily Halacha for 3 January 2016 that we should follow the tradition of our forebears to spend our time engaged in Torah, which brings wisdom and fear of God. We should not be studying secular philosophy, which causes confusion and raises questions without providing adequate answers, thus threatening a person’s fear of God and commitment to Torah. Indeed, Hakham Ovadia Yosef writes explicitly that one should not involve himself in the study of secular philosophy.
He allowed that Moses Ben Maimon a/k/a Rambam or Maimonides studied philosophy, but, R. Mansour noted, the Rambam delved into philosophy only after he mastered the entire corpus of Torah scholarship. Secondly, he studied this material for the purpose of formulating a response to the non-believers of his time, who denied the Torah on the basis of Greek thought. Since most modern day Jews are not as accomplished as Rambam, we cannot claim to have reached the level of spiritual greatness attained by the Rambam, such that we can be assured to emerge unscathed from the study of secular philosophy.
"Philosophy" is the haredi (Orthodox) code word for secular studies; anything other than the written Torah (the two Talmuds), the commentaries, and the oral Torah we received at Har Sinai - pretty much in that order.
But what if
Niels Henrik David Bohr * was a Danish physicist who made fundamental contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanics, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1922.
Gustav Mahler * was a composer and conductor, born in Bohemia (formerly part of the Austrian Empire, currently located in the Czech Republic), and identified throughout his life as a German-speaking Austrian. Mahler was best known during his own lifetime as one of the leading orchestral and operatic conductors of the day.
Baruch or Benedict de Spinoza * was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese Jewish origin. Revealing considerable scientific aptitude, the breadth and importance of Spinoza’s work was not fully realized until years after his death. Today, he is considered one of the great rationalists of 17th-century philosophy,
Sigmund Freud, * born Sigismund Shlomo Freud, was an Austrian psychiatrist who founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology.
Albert Einstein * was a German-born theoretical physicist. He is best known for his theory of relativity and specifically mass–energy equivalence, E = mc², the most famous equation of the twentieth century.
studied only Torah and not science and philosophy?
How about inventors? There are pages of inventors listed with their discoveries and inventions at Jewish Inventors. A sampling includes:
Ruth Arnon - Israel biochemist ; co-developer of a multiple sclerosis drug
Samuel E Blum - LASIK eye surgery
Paul Ehrlich, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, 1908 noted for curing syphilis and for his research in autoimmunity, chemotherapy & immunotherapy.
Waldemar Mordecai Wolff Haffkine, CIE, the first microbiologist to develop and use vaccines against cholera and bubonic plague.
Paul Maurice Zoll - Defibrillator/Cardiac Pacemaker
As with Jewish scientists, the list of Jewish philosophers goes on and on and on. A visit to the Jewish Philosophers & Thinkers page of JINFO.org brings up a list of more than 100 names including:
Isaac & Judah Abravanel, Alfred & Felix Adler, Noam Chomsky, Hasdai Crescas, Solomon Ibn Gabirol (Avicebron), Ernest Gellner, Gersonides, Judah Halevi, Jeanne Hersch, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Karl Marx, Fritz Mauthner, Alexander Men, Moses Mendelssohn, Joseph Soloveitchik, Baruch (Benedict) de Spinoza, Edith Stein, William Stern, and Leo Strauss.
Mind, the list does not include merchants, entertainers, authors, or a host of other categories of people who elected to do something in addition to Torah study; people who elected to earn their livelihood rather than beg or send others to beg for them.
The rabbis tell us that Torah scholars are Israel's defense and certainly Torah is Israel's crown, but sitting safely in a yeshiva while others risk their lives in battle hardly seems in Israel's defense. If the yeshiva boys really are Israel's defense as the rabbis claim, let them study at the front to provide morale support to the men and women who are laying their lines on the line for the rabbis and rabbi want-to-bes.
* From Top 10 Most Influential Jews In History
