On writing histories
This blog post started as a little argument in my local shul email chat group, but since it summarize my position about expressing the truth, I’d like to repeat it here. What initiated it was one of those standard comments that the truth does not give us the license to be mean (posted by my friend Rabbi R.) To that I responded:
It is true that the truth does not give us a license to be mean, but it Is also true that if we avoid telling the truth then two bad things will eventually happen:
1. Somebody else, more sinister, will tell their own version of the Truth and our next generation will not know enough to fence against it. And...
2. Our next generation will not have even a slight chance to avoid the previous generation's mistakes because they won't know about those mistakes altogether (assuming that there are some rare individuals who actually do learn from history...)
Actually, the teaching of the Chofetz Chaim and Rabbi Schwab, both Ztz"l, directly lead to the phenomenon of the CIS books in which the children are told stories about some never-existed characters; stories that are portrayed to be accurate accounts of real, previous generations Rabbis. Children who are exposed to that THING(*), either have a much distorted picture of the world, or if they are somewhat smarter, reject these books as, hmmm, THING(*). (Some of Rabbi Schwab's article, including the one in which he recommend to never write histories, have been published by CIS.)
Now, in order to avoid Loshon Hara', I should have not say anything About that type of literature and allow it to continue without protesting it, or should I?
Comments:
There was once a very smart man, even though he was a Rasha' (so I won't tell you his name). This man had said that the truth is indeed indivisible but on the other hand one can add, subtract and multiply it!
(*) I would've liked to call it by what it is, but I do not want to Cross over to direct Loshon Hara. My daughter was introduced to these books at the age of 8 or 9 and she had rejected them after the first one, using the "g" word.
Rabbi R. responded:
Rabbi Schwab strongly objected to any perversion of the truth - and therefore I think WADR that you are completely missing his point.
Rav Shcwab did NOT want polished history, instead he suggested inspirational stories. Maybe he meant as fiction or just perhaps stories without going into all the negative aspects. in no way did he suggest re-writing history - aderabbah he suggested that NO history is a better idea.
My response:
No, I did not miss the point of Rav Schwab's opinion, I just happen to be a practical person.
I understand that Rabbi Schwab had dreamt the impossible; however, the practical result of his ideology in this world IS the phenomenon of CIS books. I do not, Has Ve-Halila imply that Rabbi Schwab would ever endorse anything but either the truth or explicitly stated inspirational stories.
However, the CIS books are neither of those possibilities. They are fairy tales that are implicitly presented as the truth. In other words they are a distortion of the truth!
The ideology of preventing Loshon Hora' by all costs is indeed, morally better then the practice of saying Loshon Hora'! But, the practical results of that ideology, when taken to its extreme, might be worse!
It is true that the truth does not give us a license to be mean, but it Is also true that if we avoid telling the truth then two bad things will eventually happen:
1. Somebody else, more sinister, will tell their own version of the Truth and our next generation will not know enough to fence against it. And...
2. Our next generation will not have even a slight chance to avoid the previous generation's mistakes because they won't know about those mistakes altogether (assuming that there are some rare individuals who actually do learn from history...)
Actually, the teaching of the Chofetz Chaim and Rabbi Schwab, both Ztz"l, directly lead to the phenomenon of the CIS books in which the children are told stories about some never-existed characters; stories that are portrayed to be accurate accounts of real, previous generations Rabbis. Children who are exposed to that THING(*), either have a much distorted picture of the world, or if they are somewhat smarter, reject these books as, hmmm, THING(*). (Some of Rabbi Schwab's article, including the one in which he recommend to never write histories, have been published by CIS.)
Now, in order to avoid Loshon Hara', I should have not say anything About that type of literature and allow it to continue without protesting it, or should I?
Comments:
There was once a very smart man, even though he was a Rasha' (so I won't tell you his name). This man had said that the truth is indeed indivisible but on the other hand one can add, subtract and multiply it!
(*) I would've liked to call it by what it is, but I do not want to Cross over to direct Loshon Hara. My daughter was introduced to these books at the age of 8 or 9 and she had rejected them after the first one, using the "g" word.
Rabbi R. responded:
Rabbi Schwab strongly objected to any perversion of the truth - and therefore I think WADR that you are completely missing his point.
Rav Shcwab did NOT want polished history, instead he suggested inspirational stories. Maybe he meant as fiction or just perhaps stories without going into all the negative aspects. in no way did he suggest re-writing history - aderabbah he suggested that NO history is a better idea.
My response:
No, I did not miss the point of Rav Schwab's opinion, I just happen to be a practical person.
I understand that Rabbi Schwab had dreamt the impossible; however, the practical result of his ideology in this world IS the phenomenon of CIS books. I do not, Has Ve-Halila imply that Rabbi Schwab would ever endorse anything but either the truth or explicitly stated inspirational stories.
However, the CIS books are neither of those possibilities. They are fairy tales that are implicitly presented as the truth. In other words they are a distortion of the truth!
The ideology of preventing Loshon Hora' by all costs is indeed, morally better then the practice of saying Loshon Hora'! But, the practical results of that ideology, when taken to its extreme, might be worse!
posted by ZA at 11:27 אחה״צ
0 Comments:
הוסף רשומת תגובה
<< Home