{"id":79922,"date":"2020-09-13T16:54:49","date_gmt":"2020-09-13T13:54:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=79922"},"modified":"2020-09-13T16:54:49","modified_gmt":"2020-09-13T13:54:49","slug":"forward-strides-that-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/forward-strides-that-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Forward Strides That Man"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ashrei: A Hirschian Understanding<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The Book of Psalms begins with the Hebrew word <\/span>ashrei<\/span><\/em> which is usually translated as \u201chappy\u201d or \u201cfortunate.\u201d Some translate it as \u201cpraiseworthy.\u201d The famous opening phrase <\/span>ashrei ha\u2019ish<\/span><\/em> thus means \u201cHappy is the man.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Samson Raphael Hirsch, the great 19<\/span>th<\/span> century Bible commentator, philosopher, and leader of German Jewry, understands the word in a totally different way. Based on Proverbs 4:14, where the same root means to walk, Hirsch translates the word <\/span>Ashrei<\/span><\/em> as \u201cforward striding to salvation\u201d:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cForward strides that man who has never walked in the counsel of the lawless, never stood in the path of the frivolous, and who has never sat where the scornful sit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Suddenly, the first verse makes sense, structurally. The verse revolves about different forms of motion, or the lack thereof: forward striding–walked\u2014stood–sat.<\/span><\/p>\n

And the verse strives not for a definition of <\/span>happiness<\/em> <\/span>(for who is to say that good people are necessarily happier, in the conventional sense, than evil people?), but for a definition of <\/span>progress<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/i> In Hirsch\u2019s words:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019Striding forward,\u2019 advancement in all that which is desirable, is the basic motive and the goal of all the thoughts and acts of men. The <\/span>rasha\u2019 <\/span><\/em>(wicked person) in order to reach this goal, emancipates himself from the law, the frivolous man abandons his sense of duty, and the <\/span>leitz<\/span><\/em>, the sophist, scorns everything that seems to him a stumbling block in the path to the attainment of his heart\u2019s desire. All these three pride themselves as being progressive and regard as old-fashioned and inferior those who have scruples against their views and ways. As opposed to them the psalm says: <\/span>Ashrei ha\u2019ish<\/span><\/em>, that progress for which all of them strive is actually only with <\/span>that <\/span><\/i>man who does not follow their principles, but instead, derives all his principles, his endeavors and his views solely from the Law of the Lord.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, when groups make an accommodation with evil and evildoers, and espouse or condone violence in the name of \u201cprogress\u201d, and welcome in their midst those who hate our \u00a0 people and our land, it is well to keep in mind the timeless admonition of the psalmist:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cForward strides that man who has never walked in the counsel of the lawless\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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