Lakewood Yid has asked a very important question on the last post and the answer, I think, deserves a post of its own. His question was whether I believed that violating Halacha should be trumped by a university choosing to teach courses that might have Apikusus in them.
My answer is: Chas VeShalom! Halacha cannot by definition be violated. If it’s Assur, it’s Assur. Period. But, is it really Assur to allow such courses on campus? Dr. Revel didn’t think so. When asked how he could allow such subjects to be taught on his campus he answered that the Bachurim are prepared for such encounters on the Torah side of their day.
Some might counter, “Who says they are prepared enough? What about those who are easily swayed etc.?
Well you can never acheive 100% success in preparing anyone for an encounter with Apikursus. Just look at Volozhin. Many Maskilim came out of there. Can we say that Volozhin allowed Apikursus on their Campus? Of course not. So how did some of their best Bachurim become some of the most famous Maskilim of their time? Becasue Volozhin was unprepared for the onslaught of enlightenment. And curious minds will seek it out if it is available anywhere.
Today, Apikursus is available everywhere. You don’t have to seek it out. It seeks you out. Insulation is nearly impossible. In YU such encounters should be anticipated by the Rebbeim who they can speak to Bachurim about questionable subject matter they might encounter there.
It is also imperitive for the Rabbeim in any high school Yeshiva to know the spiritual makeup of that Bachur. Any Bachur who wants to attend YU can be evaluated and in some cases I would strongly advise a given Bachur to not take any courses like that and take a track that offers only non-controversial subjects. If a Rebbe thinks that such a Bachur would too easily succumb to pressure to take such courses, he should strongly urge him not to attend YU at all or any college for that matter except for Touro or the like.
As far as the university itself is concerned, one cannot eliminate courses that are deemed non acceptable because:
a) They would not be taken seriously as a university by academia.
b) Ein L’Davar Sof. What are you going to censor? …the Theory of Evolution? …Cosmology courses? …Philosophy courses?
c) Isn’t it better to encounter these courses in a Yeshiva environment where you have a Rebbe on premises to help you deal with it? Is it better to go to a secular college where all Apikursus is taught as gospel with no one to counter it?
In our time subject matter that was once taught only the rarified atmosphere of a university has popular appeal and many Jews encounter it in other ways, most notably on the internet. And the more insulated one is in their educational years, the less prepared they are to deal with it properly when it hits them in the outside world.
Orthodox Jews who are now skeptics are in part a result of the isolation they had from these subjects in their educational and home environments. If I recall correctly some of the skeptics have commented on other blogs (most notably on Godol Hador's blog, AH) that had they been brought up in a more enlightened environment they may never have embraced atheism. I think some of these closet skeptics are from the type of environment that insulates people.
So yes. I think YU should allow these these courses to be offered. But they should not mandate taking them and in some cases even discourage students from taking them.
Is this 100% foolproof? No. But what is?
Modified at 1:40PM CDT
