It is my contention that Rav Avigdor Miller and Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch overlap strongly in their philosophies and approach to life. Both put forth a positive approach to Torah life, one that describes the happiness that it can bring. Both stress character development. Both believed that most men should be working for a living but stressed the importance of Torah study. Both were staunchly anti-Zionist, deeming the movement an assault on basic principles of faith. Both were anti-feminist but praised righteous women and outlined the important role they play in Jewish life. Both did not buy into the theory of evolution. R' Miller went on a crusade against it. R' Hirsch only saw it, like Zionism, in its earliest stages (pun intended) so there was no need yet for a crusade but he called it a vague hypothesis still unsupported by fact. Both taught the masses, gave the regular person a derech for life. Both were prolific writers and community leaders, activists in their communities. Both were highly organized and punctual people and "living musar sefers."
On the matter of secular studies, some people are under the impression that the two are vastly different. Rav Miller is seen as totally condemning all secular studies and Rav Hirsch as embracing them. But I don't think this view is correct. Both believed you can learn some things from the gentiles but must use Torah as the gauge of what is acceptable. Both cautioned us often about taking in the bad with the good. While Hirsch is seen by some who don't know him very well as embracing secular studies and culture, there really isn't much evidence for that. He only said that in principle one can take from the good of the gentiles, which is something the Gemara says and the Chovos HaLevovos cites the Gemara as saying. In Rav Hirsch's thousands of pages of writings, you can find only a few scattered references to any gentile or off-the-derech Jewish thinkers that he is not condemning. R' Miller condemned college but that was in an era where colleges had become cesspools of decadence and crooked thinking and people were going to them. In Rav Hirsch's day, not that many people went to college. In
1866, the largest university in the USA was the University of Michigan with 1,200 students. Today it has 51,000 students including graduate students. And there are many that are bigger - the University of Central Florida has 57,000 undergraduates. There are
nine colleges with more than 40,000 undergraduates, two with more than 50,000. I believe that only two of them (Penn State and Michigan State existed in 1866). So I have to guess that had R' Hirsch lived in our times, he would rail against college. The two men might not be exactly the same on this topic, but they are similar. Both were knowledgeable about the world. Both wrote many words about the history of the mesorah and the workings of the Oral Torah. Both wrote polemically against opponents of the Torah.
Both spent most of their days studying the Talmud but were famous for teaching hashkafa to the masses. [They taught Talmud too]. Both taught small communities but their message reverberated around the world. They both have followers across the globe. Both continue to grow in their influence. Both were great writers and speakers and published all sorts of books in the national vernacular. Both wrote extensive commentary on Chumash and Siddur. Both were interested in etymology (origin of words) and used it to explain Torah concepts. Both have numerous books of hashkafa. Both wrote books or essays on Biblical and Talmudic Jewish history. The similarities are striking.
With that said, I direct people to www.TorasAvigdor.org which has published transcripts of R' Miller's talks along with weekly parsha booklets. I have seen them on shuls all over the place. People are clamoring for them. We are starved for words of emunah. Rav Miller provides them. We are distributing them in Beit Shemesh at the following locations:
Toras Avigdor Parsha Booklets in Beit Shemesh
The parsha booklets with Torah from Rabbi Avigdor Miller zt'l can be found at the following locations in Beit Shemesh:
Ramat Aleph
Aish Kodesh, Maor St.
Beis Tefilla, Refaim St.
Chanichei Yeshivos, Noam St.
Judaica Center, Mercaz, under Yesh Chesed Supermarket
Lev Eliyahu, Soreq St.
Maasas Mordechai, Dolev St.
If you don't find any copies at any of these locations it's because the demand is so enormous. We need to print out more, Baruch HaShem. Let me know at TIDESociety@outlook.com or call 058-324-0374.
Samples
