The world of Jewish political enthusiasts was energized by the appearance of a fresh-faced young man, an online influencer, and an outspoken advocate and party to a lawsuit against
the recent wave of anti-Semitism that has terrorized Jewish students at some of America’s finest and oldest universities. Shabbos (Shabsi) Alexander Kestenbaum, a recent graduate of Harvard’s Graduate School of Divinity, has spoken before Congress, and now at the RNC, about his experiences and the way that both the Democratic party and his university have abandoned a commitment to liberal arts, tolerance, and the safety of Jewish students.

Shabbos received a top-notch education at Modern Orthodox day schools and rounded off his early schooling with a year at Aish Hatorah in Jerusalem.
Today, he sports a large velvet Yarmulka and an unapologetic pride in his Judaism and…his ancestry. You see, Shabbos is a great-grandson of Rav Breuer’s daughter Hanna Schwalbe.

In his advocacy, so far, he has energized the students to stand up to the agitators. In his speech, he declared that “Jewish values are American values, and American values are Jewish values!” This might raise eyebrows but is probably just a nod to the deep religious convictions of the founders. And, to the idea that the Bnei Yisrael- via our Torah- is meant to be an “Ohr LaGoyim” – a light unto the nations.

But what does the second clause mean? “American values are Jewish values”, does not sound like a theologically sound idea (though it makes for a great speech ender!)

In truth, we find a similar thought in Rav Hirsch’s writings and Shabbos might be echoing his ancestry – whether he knew it or not. Here is a quote from Rabbi Meir Hildesheimer’s article on Rav Hirsch on the Website of Professor L Levine.

Rabbi Hirsch was especially influenced by Hegel and Schiller. In a speech given in his school he founded on the centenary of the birth of the latter, he claimed that the universal principles of Western culture embodied in Schiller’s writings are Jewish values originating in the Torah.

Now, as shocking as this sounds, Rav Hirsch, and arguably TIDE are meant for us to see where Hashem’s glory is expressed in the greater human experience. And to Shun anywhere that it doesn’t. Indeed, Rabbi Hildesheimer goes on to show that Rav Hirsch’s experience with Western Culture ended where the Torah’s ethical code was absent:

Despite Rabbi Hirsch’s liberalism in matters of culture and education, he was critical of literature that he considered offensive from a religious or moral standpoint. Thus, while reading “Der Salon” by Heine, he grew so highly incensed by its blasphemous expressions that he wanted to burn the book and compensate the library for its destruction. Nevertheless, the fact that “Der Salon” was written by an apostate did not prevent Rabbi Hirsch from reading it.

Furthermore, we see the strict adherence to Torah values in the encounter with culture elsewhere in Rav Hirsch’s writings. In an angry article addressed to the reformers in Frankfurt who labeled themselves as “Religion allied with progress,” Rav Hirsch takes great exception with 1) what the reformers called “progress”, and 2) the idea that his community is somehow “reactionary.” But before doing so, he makes the following statement in fiery language:

We hereby declare before heaven and earth that if our religion indeed would require us to denounce that which men call civilization and culture, we would be ready to do so without hesitation, precisely because we truly regard our religion as a religion, because it is to us the word of G-d, to which all other considerations must defer.

I intend to write a second installment on Shabbos Kestenbaum’s appearance at the convention, but I want to close with a short qualifier to the words of Rav Hirsch – and his young descendant- above.

Rav Schwab- in at least two of his speeches/articles among his collected works, makes the assertion that some of the affection the community in Germany had for the works of Schiller and the like would not have been so great had they known that men who could quote the poetry, philosophy, and music of the great German thinkers, could send one million children to the gas chambers. He even mentions Rav Hirsch’s name in this context. Although I assume Rav Hirsch, in his saintly ways, never had affection for the writers, only for their wisdom- Rav Schwab avers that Rav Hirsch zt’l, from his place in Gan Eden, would agree to his conclusion that the morality of Schiller did not stand the test of time. Indeed, he qutes Rav Hirsch’s commentary, wherein Avraham is chosen specifically because he can be relied on to maintain the divine morals. (Selected Writings pg. 81)

This said, we, who live with the Holocaust as a backdrop to all we experience today, need to be careful when heaping praise on the values of American society…as espoused by whichever party should be in power.

Shabbos Kestenbaum as a Hirschian

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