DA'AS TORAH
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'Da'as Torah' (or 'Da'at Torah', 'Da'as Toyreh') (Hebrew: דעת תורה. Literally, "Knowledge of Torah") is an important basic concept in present-day Jewish Haredi society. Colloquially, the phrase ''Da'as Torah'' is best understood as "following a Torah mentality."
The concept of ''Da'as Torah'' is that through the diligent study of Torah, the observance of the ''mitzvot'' (commandments), and the effort to perfect one's character, a person develops his mind to have a greater understanding of God's will, as expressed in the Torah. This mentality is called ''Da'as Torah''. (The term itself is of fairly recent origin. Different phrases and terms are used in older sources.)
It is believed by many who espouse the idea of ''Da'as Torah'' that the greatest rabbis (called ''Gedolim'' ("great ones") or ''gedolei Torah'' or ''gedolei Yisrael'') have the clearest insight into what God wants the Jewish people to do in any given situation. This is often considered to be true not only in matters of ''halakha'' ("Jewish law"), where rabbis are clearly the recognized authorities, but in every aspect of life, from issues of health to secular politics.
Rabbinic authority has greater latitude when declaring ''Da'as Torah'' than when defining a "halachic opinion", because a halachic opinion requires legal justification from recognized sources, whereas simple ''Da'as Torah'' is recognized as being of a more subtle nature and requires no clear legal justification or explicit grounding in earlier sources. Indeed, different authorities may offer diametrically opposed opinions based on their own understanding (Feitman 1995).
In Hasidic circles, the central role of a ''rebbe'' who has extraordinary spiritual powers is taken for granted by all his followers. The views and edicts of a ''rebbe'' are themselves an expression of ''Da'as Torah''.
Some observers, such as Dr. Jacob Katz, feel that the idea that these are ''de facto'' binding on the whole community is a novelty to those outside of Haredi Judaism.
Prior to the modern period, rabbis functioned as the primary leaders of every Jewish community. Lay leaders served under the general guidance of the rabbincal leadership regarding religious issues, and often on political matters as well. This was not understood to mean that rabbis, even ''gedolim'', were infallible, but simply that they were seen as the best qualified leaders for the Jewish people (Feitman 1995).
Some argue (e.g. Kaplan 1980) that with the rise of modernity and the wider availability of secular knowledge (and a reduction of commitment to religion), various groups, including groups within the "Orthodox" world, raised challenges to the exclusive leadership role of the rabbis. These theorists suggest that to some degree, this generated a backlash in the ''Haredi'' world, intensifying the ''Da'as Torah'' concept to imply near infallibility for ''gedolim''.
Many believe that the ''gedolim'' receive Divine guidance in their leadership role. Some regard the rise of the ''Da'as Torah'' concept as a return of a form of low-grade "prophecy" to Judaism, and a number of social researchers in Israel see the appearance of ''Da'as Torah'' possibly as part of a process or reaction, in the Haredi world, to the Holocaust and the establishment of a Haredi society based on a very large proportion of men devoting themselves to full-time Torah study.
The ''Da'as Torah'' concept is the principle that guides the Haredi political parties in Israel such as the Ashkenazi Agudat Israel (working under the tutelage of the present Gerrer Rebbe, Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter) and Degel HaTorah (presently guided by Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliashiv, both individually and during their alliance together as United Torah Judaism, and the Sephardi Shas party (guided mainly by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.)
★ Feitman, Rabbi Yaakov. "Daas Torah: Tapping the Source of Eternal Wisdom". In: ''Torah Lives'', ed. Nisson Wolpin. Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah Publications, 1995. Pg ix-xxviii. ISBN 0-89906-319-5.
★ Kaplan, Lawrence. ''Tradition''. Fall 1980, page 248.
★ Torah Judaism
★ Posek
★ Rosh yeshiva
★ Rebbe
★ Haredi Judaism
★ Hasidic Judaism
| Contents |
| The phenomenon |
| Theories about its background |
| Political impact |
| References |
| See also |
The phenomenon
The concept of ''Da'as Torah'' is that through the diligent study of Torah, the observance of the ''mitzvot'' (commandments), and the effort to perfect one's character, a person develops his mind to have a greater understanding of God's will, as expressed in the Torah. This mentality is called ''Da'as Torah''. (The term itself is of fairly recent origin. Different phrases and terms are used in older sources.)
It is believed by many who espouse the idea of ''Da'as Torah'' that the greatest rabbis (called ''Gedolim'' ("great ones") or ''gedolei Torah'' or ''gedolei Yisrael'') have the clearest insight into what God wants the Jewish people to do in any given situation. This is often considered to be true not only in matters of ''halakha'' ("Jewish law"), where rabbis are clearly the recognized authorities, but in every aspect of life, from issues of health to secular politics.
Rabbinic authority has greater latitude when declaring ''Da'as Torah'' than when defining a "halachic opinion", because a halachic opinion requires legal justification from recognized sources, whereas simple ''Da'as Torah'' is recognized as being of a more subtle nature and requires no clear legal justification or explicit grounding in earlier sources. Indeed, different authorities may offer diametrically opposed opinions based on their own understanding (Feitman 1995).
In Hasidic circles, the central role of a ''rebbe'' who has extraordinary spiritual powers is taken for granted by all his followers. The views and edicts of a ''rebbe'' are themselves an expression of ''Da'as Torah''.
Theories about its background
Some observers, such as Dr. Jacob Katz, feel that the idea that these are ''de facto'' binding on the whole community is a novelty to those outside of Haredi Judaism.
Prior to the modern period, rabbis functioned as the primary leaders of every Jewish community. Lay leaders served under the general guidance of the rabbincal leadership regarding religious issues, and often on political matters as well. This was not understood to mean that rabbis, even ''gedolim'', were infallible, but simply that they were seen as the best qualified leaders for the Jewish people (Feitman 1995).
Some argue (e.g. Kaplan 1980) that with the rise of modernity and the wider availability of secular knowledge (and a reduction of commitment to religion), various groups, including groups within the "Orthodox" world, raised challenges to the exclusive leadership role of the rabbis. These theorists suggest that to some degree, this generated a backlash in the ''Haredi'' world, intensifying the ''Da'as Torah'' concept to imply near infallibility for ''gedolim''.
Many believe that the ''gedolim'' receive Divine guidance in their leadership role. Some regard the rise of the ''Da'as Torah'' concept as a return of a form of low-grade "prophecy" to Judaism, and a number of social researchers in Israel see the appearance of ''Da'as Torah'' possibly as part of a process or reaction, in the Haredi world, to the Holocaust and the establishment of a Haredi society based on a very large proportion of men devoting themselves to full-time Torah study.
Political impact
The ''Da'as Torah'' concept is the principle that guides the Haredi political parties in Israel such as the Ashkenazi Agudat Israel (working under the tutelage of the present Gerrer Rebbe, Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter) and Degel HaTorah (presently guided by Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliashiv, both individually and during their alliance together as United Torah Judaism, and the Sephardi Shas party (guided mainly by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.)
References
★ Feitman, Rabbi Yaakov. "Daas Torah: Tapping the Source of Eternal Wisdom". In: ''Torah Lives'', ed. Nisson Wolpin. Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah Publications, 1995. Pg ix-xxviii. ISBN 0-89906-319-5.
★ Kaplan, Lawrence. ''Tradition''. Fall 1980, page 248.
See also
★ Torah Judaism
★ Posek
★ Rosh yeshiva
★ Rebbe
★ Haredi Judaism
★ Hasidic Judaism
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