How much should Torah control our secular life?
How many Societal Values should inform our behaviour?
Roughly moving from Left to Right
A) Torah indeed does inform our ritual behaviour, yet not beyond.
As such, we take its strictures strictly, but narrowly. Midrash
and Aggadah are nice stories but we essentially and ultimately
take our cues, in the broader moral and ethical realm, from
Society's Liberal or Libertarian Mores. Thus, w/o definite rules
to the contrary, we do ordain women, etc.
B) We follow Halachah and that adherence inherently places a
parameter on our behavioural options in a broad context. When it
comes to Hashqafah, though, we merge or synthesize Torah Values
with Secular Values thus allowing greater possibilities and, even,
innovations. This creates a desired dialectic tension.
[Torah uMada - TuM]
C) We do engage and live IN the World but we are not OF this world.
Everything we do is informed by Torah Values. Those aspects of
society that DO conform with Torah Values we do embrace. Others
we reject w/o any compromise or synthesis.
[RSR Hirsch - Torah im Derech Eretz - TiDE]
D) Torah is Divine. This World is mired in the Satan and Yetzer
Hara paradigm We remain insular and keep Torah Only, interacting
honestly, pursuant to our standards, with society - but to the
bare minimum. sad
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