page_title: Torah im Derech Eretz
section_title: Knowledge of culture and society
hierarchical_section_title: Torah im Derech Eretz / Derech Eretz / Knowledge of culture and society
caption_attribution_description: English: Understanding, mural by Robert Lewis Reid. Second Floor, North Corridor. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C. Caption underneath reads: WISDOM IS THE PRINCIPAL THING THEREFORE GET WISDOM AND WITH ALL THY GETTING GET VNDERSTANDING.
context_page_description: Torah im Derech Eretz
  is a phrase common in Rabbinic literature referring to various aspects of one's interaction with the wider world.
  It also refers to a philosophy of Orthodox Judaism articulated by Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch, which formalizes a relationship between traditionally observant Judaism and the modern world. Some refer to the resultant mode of Orthodox Judaism as Neo-Orthodoxy.
context_section_description: Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808 – 1888), incorporating the above, was among the first to extend the definition of Derech Eretz to include a broad knowledge of, and appropriate interaction with, culture and society. Hirsch states that:
  "Derech Eretz includes everything that results from the fact that man's existence, mission and social life are conducted on Earth, using earthly means and conditions. Therefore this term especially describes ways of earning a livelihood and maintaining the social order. It also includes the customs and considerations of etiquette that the social order generates as well as everything concerning humanistic and civil education." (commentary on Pirkei Avot)
  Hirsch's conception also entails the qualification that there be no compromise on strict adherence to Jewish law. The resultant philosophy of Orthodox Judaism in the modern world, referred to as "Torah im Derech Eretz", is discussed below.
caption: Understanding, mural by Robert Lewis Reid (1862–1929) in Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.
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