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." “Hebrew” redirects here. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses, see Jew (disambiguation). ... Haredi or Charedi Judaism (alternatively Hareidi or Chareidi - this spelling being usually preferred by Haredim themselves) is the most theologically conservative form of Orthodox Judaism. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

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. Rabbi, in Judaism, means ‘teacher’, or more literally ‘great one’. The word Rabbi is derived from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ‘great’ or ‘distinguished (in knowledge)’. Sephardic and Yemenite Jews pronounce this word ribbī; the modern Israeli pronunciation rabbī is derived from a recent (18th... Halakha (Hebrew: הלכה; also transliterated as Halakhah, Halacha, Halakhot and Halachah with pronunciation emphasis on the third syllable, kha), is the collective corpus of Jewish religious law, including biblical law (the 613 mitzvot) and later talmudic and rabbinic law as well as customs and traditions. ...

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. Hasidic Judaism (also Chasidic, etc. ... Rebbe which means master, teacher, or mentor is a Yiddish word derived from the identical Hebrew word רבי. It mostly refers to the leader of a Hasidic Jewish movement. ...

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. Haredi Judaism, also called ultra-Orthodox Judaism, is the most theologically conservative form of Judaism. ...

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.^{[citation needed]} “Shoah” redirects here. ... Torah study is the study by Jews of the Torah, Tanakh, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature and similar works, all of which are Judaisms religious texts, for the purpose of the mitzvah (commandment) of Torah study itself, meaning study for religious (as opposed to academic) purposes. ...

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.) Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim (אַשְׁכֲּנָזִי אַשְׁכֲּנָזִים Standard Hebrew, AÅ¡kanazi,AÅ¡kanazim, Tiberian Hebrew, ʾAÅ¡kănāzî, ʾAÅ¡kănāzîm, pronounced sing. ... Categories: Organization stubs | Israel-related stubs | Israeli political parties | Orthodox Judaism ... Ger, or Gur (or Gerrer when used as an adjective) is a large Hasidic dynasty originating from Gur, the Yiddish name of Góra Kalwaria, a small town in Poland. ... The present Gerer Rebbe, Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter Yaakov (Yankel) Aryeh Alter (born 1936) is a Hasidic rabbi, and since 1996 has been the seventh rebbe of the Ger Hasidim in Israel, with disciples and branches in Europe and the United States. ... Degel HaTorah (or Degel haTorah) (דגל התורה Hebrew for Flag/Banner [of] the Torah) is an Israeli mostly Ashkenazi Haredi Judaism political party with a small number of seats (2-3) in the Knesset, Israels national parliament. ... Rabbi Y.S. Eliashiv Yosef Shalom Eliashiv (יוסף שלום אלישיב), (b. ... United Torah Judaism (In Hebrew: יהדות התורה which translates as Judaism [of the] Torah) (UTJ) is a small Haredi political party in the Israeli Knesset. ... Sephardim (ספרדי, Standard Hebrew SÉ™fardi, Tiberian Hebrew ardî; plural Sephardim: ספרדים, Standard Hebrew Sfaradim, Tiberian Hebrew ) are a subgroup of Jews, generally defined in contrast to Ashkenazim and/or . ... Shas (Hebrew: ) is an political party in Israel, primarily representing Ultra-orthodox Sephardi and Mizrahi Judaism. ... Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (Hebrew: עובדיה יוסף) (b. ...

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