Home Home / Letter from R. Sherer about Reactions to "Torah Umadda" (1995)

Correspondence

March 28, 1995

Letter from R. Sherer about Reactions to "Torah Umadda" (1995)

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Dear Milon, Your very warm and supportive letter was a source of genuine consolation to me, בבחינת מועט המחזיק את המרובה, and the fact that it came on top of your telegram leads me to respond the way the colleagues of רבי עקיבא did at the end of מכות, namely, נחמתני נחמתני. I’m sorry you didn’t have my phone number; after these many years I was forced to resort to an unlisted number because of harassing calls at all unearthly hours by some of our local קנאים. Should you ever want to reach me (for happy reasons, I trust), try me at 212-496-6321. I’m delighted with your reaction to my Torah Umadda. It is my אני מאמין and therefore all the more meaningful to me to read your response—including the one caveat you included. I remember discussing with you the Rambam’s personal attitude, and I owe to you the mention of one of his letters where he speaks of his frustration at not being able to study מדע. Thanks again—I’m glad that after all these years our ideological development has led us in essentially the same direction. Your remarks about תורה לשמה are very well taken; I refrain from any lengthy reaction because I’ve elaborated on the theme in my Torah Lishmah. I cannot discern from your letter if you have the book or not; if not, please let me know at once and I will be delighted to send you a copy immediately (the English version that came out earlier this year; the Hebrew is out of print and the English is updated). I had very little time, in this difficult period, to study your two מאמרים in depth—just enough to marvel at both the level of לומדות and sophistication and the time you set aside for learning, considering your academic and research preoccupations. Forgive me the personal tribute, but you were always one of the prime models I had in mind when thinking, talking, or writing about תורה ומדע. While I haven’t had time to more than glance at your essay on מלכיות, זכרונות, ושופרות, I did peruse with a bit more attention your piece on אמן. נהניתי מאוד מכל המאמר,…
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