Studies On Samson Raphael Hirsch's Thought Of Judaism

Samson Raphael Hirsch was the founder of Neo-Orthodox Judaism, which is also called Modern Orthodoxy. Neo-Orthodoxy was the product of active response to the new situation after Jews were emancipated from Ghetto. On one hand, they observed theological thoughts of traditional Judaism, especially Jewish laws, and on the other hand, they adjusted some Jewish practices and accepted secular education. Therefore, they could participate in German social life successfully. The purpose of this dissertation is to outline the characteristics of Neo-Orthodox Judaism by the analysis of Hirsch's main thoughts.This dissertation is divided into five parts. The first part is about the context and background. Among emancipated Jews, there were different attitudes and responses to modernity when they faced the new culture. When Jews were out of Ghetto, they found Judaism, which they had been observed for thousands of years, became the biggest obstacle for them to take part in German society. Afterwards, some Jews were baptized and became Christians; some were totally secularized. These two attitudes were the most radical, and just belonged to marginal social phenomena. As we all know, most Jews still want to keep Judaism, but how much to keep needs a new examination. Therefore, different concepts and standpoints on Jewish history, Jewish nationality, revelation of Jewish laws and Messianic ideas, made different Jewish denominations, that is, Reform Judaism, Science of Judaism, Neo-Orthodoxy and Ultra-Orthodoxy. Hirsch neither agreed with Reform Judaism, nor supported Ultra-Orthodoxy's rejection of secular education. Hirsch put forward his systematic theory on Jewish nationality, Jewish laws and Jewish education, and form the characteristics of Neo-Orthodox Judaism.The second part is about Hirsch's arguments on Jewish nationality. Jewish nationality was questioned after Jews were granted civil rights. Is Jewish people a nation? Is it a common nation, or special nation? Does Jewish people have the same history evolution as other nations, or it will exist forever because of the covenant with God? There were different answers to these questions. Reform Judaism tried to remove Jewish nationality by denying Hebrew and Messianic ideas, so that they could pave way for Jewish emancipation. Science of Judaism confirmed the decisive role of Jewish people in Judaism. However, for Hirsch, Jewish people is the same as other nations on external forms, but it transcends history and exists forever because it relies on God. Though Torah is the foundation of Jewish people, that is, Jewish people does not rely on land or state, but Land of Israel is the feeling bond for Jewish people, and Hebrew can not be replaced by other languages. Jewish people will lose land and state when they rely on these material conditions. The Exile of Jewish people is the outcome of their deviation from God. The same as Reform Judaism, Hirsch also believes Exile is the opportunity for Jewish people to spread God's ideal. But Hirsch does not think Exile is the premise for Jewish mission. He believes that Jewish people will have other ways to accomplish the mission if they were not exiled. Because Jewish people is based on Torah, so Jewish community is also based on Torah. The Jewish community whose leaders strayed from Torah will not have authority. Therefore, Hirsch advocated secession from such Jewish communities.The third part is about Hirsch's arguments on the observance of Jewish laws, and outlines his methods to explain laws. Both Reform Judaism and Science of Judaism believe that Judaism is a history phenomenon, evolution and changing constantly. However, Hirsch think Torah/Judaism is eternal, without changing, and only Jewish history is changing according to their conformity to God's will. Therefore, Judaism transcends history, and Jewish laws are eternal. Reform Judaism thinks Judaism should adjust itself to time spirit, and divides Jewish laws into ethical laws and ritual laws. For them, ethical laws are rational and should be kept, but ritual laws are irrational and should be discarded. But Hirsch insists that ritual laws play great role in shaping human holiness and pureness. Every law is equal, without priority. Therefore, Jewish laws are the essence of Judaism. Only one observes Jewish laws in daily life can he be called a Jew. If one wants to examine Judaism, he must know it from within itself because Judaism is a self-sufficient system. Though human's reason is limited, analyzing the deep meaning of laws will be helpful. The method which Hirsch takes to explain Jewish laws is symbolism.The fourth part is about Jewish education after their emancipation. For Hirsch, Jews must face the new situation bravely, not evading German culture, so Jews should receive secular culture. Human mission is to accomplish God's will, and Torah is the guidance to know God through His action. Secular culture will help human being understand God's will, so secular education and Jewish education are not contradicted with each other. Both educations should be paid the same attention. But secular education and Jewish education are not equal. Torah study is the predominant one, and secular education is subordinated to Torah study, because Torah is eternal and secular culture changes all the time. Thus we can find that Hirsch has similar attitude on secular education to Reform Judaism, that is, to achieve secularization by secular education. But we should notice that Hirsch emphasizes the predominance of Torah study, and Reform Judaism neglects Jewish education. Hirsch indicates that Torah was revealed to human in order to develop human's intellect, so it is incredible if Torah is contradicted with humanism. With the education mode "Torah im Derech Eretz", Jews will become Ideal Jews.The last part is the evaluation on Hirsch's thoughts. Hirsch actively responded to the main conflicts between Jewish traditional concepts and modern culture, such as individualism and God-centered ideas, subjectivism and God's will, and the relationship between knowledge and moral action. Hirsch's thoughts and social practice focus on how to deal with the conflicts between Jewish tradition and modernity. His thought is the foundation of Neo-Orthodox Judaism, with an open attitude to modernity but insistence on Jewish laws. Compared with other nations, German Jews found a suitable way to combine Jewish laws and German culture. Therefore, German Neo-Orthodox Jews were successfully to keep Jewishness as much as they could, and participate in German society with modern culture.