Wait, How Does Whiggish Historiography Fit With Our ‘Yeridas Hadoros’ Doctrine?!
And wait for me, too! What’s “Whiggish Historiography”?
It’s not about women’s wigs…
Here’s from Wikipedia:
Whig history (or Whig historiography) is an approach to historiography that presents the past as an inevitable progression towards ever greater liberty and enlightenment, culminating in modern forms of liberal democracy and constitutional monarchy.
In general, Whig historians emphasize the rise of constitutional government, personal freedoms and scientific progress. The term is often applied generally (and pejoratively) to histories that present the past as the inexorable march of progress towards enlightenment. The term is also used extensively in the history of science to mean historiography that focuses on the successful chain of theories and experiments that led to present-day science, while ignoring failed theories and dead ends.
Reportedly, Rabbi Moshe Shapira complained that after we had finally rid ourselves of historical Jewish distortions and errors “Otzar Hachochma” came along and gave blessedly forgotten old falsehoods a new lease on life.
Well, what of any accumulated errors Otzar Hachochma’s spotlight helps us correct? Or is the Da’as Torah Generation free of all error?
To apply the “Hilchesa Kebasra’ei” vantage point to ourselves, don’t we need to see all opinions, and then משנה לא זזה ממקומה – the opposite of book-burning?
(Or is that solely the job of Torah greats?)
