K'Cholmim's Great Books Collection:

Introduction - Why do we need such a collection?

K'Cholmim, indeed Judaism, are of the attitude that "there is wisdom in the non-Jews". Chazal, the Sages of Judaism were famous for their appreciation and respect for wisdom in other civilizations, especially the Greeks. K'Cholmim believes that too many of us have come to believe that 'we' (whoever the we may be) are different from this 'other' and that they have nothing to offer. In university courses everyone tries to make the great statement that will 'prove' Kant wrong, or Mill, or whatever other great thinker we are reading. Very few of us think critically anymore, we don't absorb knowledge and wisdom but rather attempt to deconstruct that which we don't understand.

The goal of Am Yisrael as laid out in the Torah, the book of wisdom for the Jewish People (among many - though the only one which is Divine and Revealed) is for the Jewish People to set up a model nation in the land of Israel and bring God's wisdom to all mankind. Well, we can't do that if we don't set up a nation at all, and the current nation we have, Israel, is working on a foundation of Eastern European Jews whose only exposure to political science was that of dictators, fascists, and Communists (not in the sense of Marx, but in the sense of Stalin). The great liberal tradition of thinkers such as Locke and Rousseau have a great deal to offer the Jewish People. We would be fools to reject non Jewish wisdom on how to create a civil society, peace, how to create progressive educational systems, etc. simply because of the origin of said wisdom. Indeed, such an attitude is very unJewish, since it denies a non Jew the faculty of reasoning, which is that which makes man a divine creature as opposed to a beast. Many too many Jews reject non Jewish wisdom simply because it is non Jewish. And this is an inappropriate and indefensible position. This is not to say that all knowledge is good. Jewish wisdom would not entertain idol worship as a theologically sound and wise position, but we have reasons for this.

But it is not only non-Jewish wisdom that is scorned. Surely every Jew knows another Jew who scorns Jewish wisdom just as quickly simply because it is Jewish, it is part of some "foolish religion". Indeed, we all know someone whose bad Sunday school experience led him to reject that which he does not know. And this is an equally untenable and absurd position. So in addition to our small but growing collection of non Jewish works of wisdom, we will attempt to gather and post Jewish works of wisdom as well. The great Jewish thinkers were not without what to say on matters of education, society, etc. Far from it. And too few of us are familiar with Jewish sources, texts, and opinions in regards to such manner, too many Jews go seeking for wisdom in another's back yard, without ever exploring their own.

So why then does K'Cholmim concentrate on non Jewish wisdom in addition to Jewish? Simple. Because much as I may want to be one of the handful of Jewish youths born and raised in a Jewish Nation in the hills of Samaria who never knew the Holocaust, who doesn't speak English, who doesn't fear the gentile, I am not that person. I was born and raised in America, and attended one of the greatest institutions of learning in America, the University of Chicago, where Greek and Western thinking is heralded and studied. And my backyard includes both Locke and Maimonidies. And I believe that we as K'Cholmim can make use of such mixes and differences to further Am Yisrael and bring us ever closer to our Divine and Holy mission for which we were chosen.

May the Holy One bless us with the wisdom to fulfill His Torah and bring true peace to the world. Enjoy the books

B'ahavat Yisrael
Yehuda Adam
Founder of K'Cholmim