“An historian who approaches the past in order to influence the present has works in vain.” I simply do not believe that Katz really believed this. He misstated his idea. He used the wrong words. He meant that the past must be studied objectively, without a preconceived agendas. Indeed, one must study the post in order to not repeat past mistakes in the present. With regard to October 7th, studying the Sharon Withdrawal from Gaza and its effects teaches us not to repeat the same mistakes in Eastern Jerusalem, Samaria, and Judea. Halachic decision making is always based on analyzing past cases. Similarly, Beth Din decisions.
Studying the past teaches that Jews should never help Naziism, and the ACLU’s Jewish lawyers should have defended the Skokie Jews’ Civil Rights for lives without threats of murder and not their would-be murderers’ “right to march” through the Jews’ community. And that Islamic extremist terrorists can never be trusted to live up to agreements; pieces of paper without methods of enforcement are worthless. Let us learn from the past; yes. Torah for Torah’s sake, but definitely to apply lessons to the present and future.
David Lloyd (ben Yaacov Yehuda) Klepper, Jerusalem
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“An historian who approaches the past in order to influence the present has works in vain.” I simply do not believe that Katz really believed this. He misstated his idea. He used the wrong words. He meant that the past must be studied objectively, without a preconceived agendas. Indeed, one must study the post in order to not repeat past mistakes in the present. With regard to October 7th, studying the Sharon Withdrawal from Gaza and its effects teaches us not to repeat the same mistakes in Eastern Jerusalem, Samaria, and Judea. Halachic decision making is always based on analyzing past cases. Similarly, Beth Din decisions.
Studying the past teaches that Jews should never help Naziism, and the ACLU’s Jewish lawyers should have defended the Skokie Jews’ Civil Rights for lives without threats of murder and not their would-be murderers’ “right to march” through the Jews’ community. And that Islamic extremist terrorists can never be trusted to live up to agreements; pieces of paper without methods of enforcement are worthless. Let us learn from the past; yes. Torah for Torah’s sake, but definitely to apply lessons to the present and future.
David Lloyd (ben Yaacov Yehuda) Klepper, Jerusalem