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This week's question is, what are your thoughts on learning from secular things? I find that there are many things and people we can learn from that are not Judaism related. Is this okay? Also, when we feel that we need to take a break and quote-unquote chill, is it okay to watch videos that are totally appropriate but not necessarily the most productive? Let's start at the basics. We are here to serve God. We were put into this world in order to build a home for Him. Every moment that we are on this world needs to be used productively. But productively doesn't always mean focused on the task at hand. Sometimes we have to step back from the task in order so that we should have the capability of returning to the task. Taking a break does not mean that we stop performing the mission for which we are created. It just means we're taking a break. Taking a break allows us to return to the mission in a refreshed way.
so that we can continue to do what we were created to do. So when we take a break from learning, from davening, from chesed, or whatever it is that we're involved in, we're taking a break so that we can go back to these things. The question becomes, are we taking a break that actually allows us to go back to the task at hand? If Chas V'Shalom, somebody does something that is not in line with the mission for which we were created, so then it's going to debilitate them when they want to return to the task at hand. So if our break is inappropriate, it's hard to go back to the appropriate. On the other hand, if our break is in line with the Ratzon Hashem, So then it will refresh us, rejuvenate us, allow us to return to our learning, our davening, our chesed, our jobs, our families, whatever it is that we're doing in a way that brings Nachas Ruach to the Rebbe HaShalom. Everybody has to make an individual call for themselves when it comes to watching these movies. Are they in line with the Ratzan Hashem?
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One could easily argue that the values system in these movies are often skewed and not in line with the Torah's approach. Even some Disney movies have women that are dressed inappropriately. And I personally would not want my daughter to grow up with the images of the physical forms of these women as their goal. It can be very dangerous to show these images to little girls. On the other hand, not everything is the worst thing in the world. A person has to make that call for themselves. As far as learning from secular things, that too is a break from learning about Judaism. And the Torah is very clear when it comes to this. Chazal say that there is Chachma B'gayim. There's not Torah B'gayim, but there is Chachma B'gayim. And there's no question that we can learn these things. We should not confuse learning science and learning Torah. Learning Torah is the mitzvah of learning Torah and nothing else. Learning science is not the mitzvah of Talmud Torah. But the Rambam does make it clear that when a person learns science, that can bring him close to the Rabbenu Shalom, that he understands the Neflos HaBria and he's inspired by them.
And it allows him to think about the wonder of creation. And that inspires him to get closer to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. There's no doubt that in my own life, learning psychology, learning sociology, all of these things contributed to the person that I am today. Do they help me learn Torah? Sometimes, but I'm not convinced that one has to learn these things in order to learn Torah. Tosas could be understood even without Shakespeare, but having Shakespeare in my life no doubt has had a positive impact. So, there's nothing wrong with learning some. secular things, but once again, are the things we're learning in line with the Torah? When we learn secular humanism, it can't have an impact on the way we see the world. Some people live with a dialectical tension between the morality of humanism and the Torah. That, to me, is inappropriate. God creates morality, and it is our job to fall into line with what God wants. We have to see the world through a godly lens, and in today's modern day and age,
morality has become totally subjective. So while it may be appropriate to learn secular things, we have to know what secular things are appropriate. The Rambha makes it clear, for example, that a person is not allowed to learn Kthira or Apikarsis until he is Malekreso with Torah, until his belly is filled with Torah. I'm not sure that anybody that I'm speaking to now is on that level. I imagine that somebody who is Malekreso with Torah is probably not listening to me and with good reason. So for many of us, we have to be very careful. to only learn that which is appropriate, to only engage in that which is appropriate, so that we may ultimately fulfill our task of building a home for our Kodesh Baruch Hu in this world.
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