Q&A: External Wisdoms
External Wisdoms
Question
Hello, honored Rabbi,
Once the Enlightenment movement became significantly realized in Jewish society, extraordinary things were discovered and achieved by Jews.
From what I understand, throughout history Jews engaged in Torah and not in external wisdoms.
When Jews began to engage in external wisdoms, they achieved great success in a wide range of fields. Some of them even received the Nobel Prize.
In your opinion, if students in advanced yeshivot such as Ponevezh, and the Haredi community in general, were also to integrate external wisdoms, would the percentage of Jews who have won the prize increase?
I saw an entry called “The Jewish Genius” on Wikipedia. Isn’t it a bit racist to classify a high degree of intelligence as belonging to a specific ethnic group?
Thank you.
Answer
What does this have to do with racism? These are facts. Should one deny facts in the name of racism? Is it forbidden to say that blacks are, on average, better basketball players, and that Africans are, on average, better runners?
As for integrating secular studies into yeshivot, I don’t know, but I very much doubt it. The advantage Jews have today is smaller than it was in the past. The world is more educated.