Secular Studies -
Rashi and Rambam: Two Worldviews

Just as our present-day yeshivos argue over the value of secular studies in a Torah curriculum, secular studies was also a contentious issue in the medieval era of Rashi and the Rambam. Each of these two Torah giants confronts the issue in his unique style. The Rambam defends secular studies, and anticipating criticism, minces no words about it while Rashi, in an oblique reference in a discussion of Midrash, advocates Torah study to the exclusion of all else. Their opposite conclusions become crystal clear in this riveting lecture which reveals much about the character and background of these two pillars of Torah Jewry.