Bemichalas kvodom, the Rabonim of the post war period sought to recreate the situation they were familiar with in Europe, where life was often short, brutish, and people were ordinarily expected to speak, read and understand multiple languages. The glue of torah society was physical and social isolation, tightly knit community, and the mimetic traditiona (see Rupture and Reconstruction, Soloveiczik). These conditions are absent in the US, two generations of mechanchim have no gounding in hashkafa themselves, and the tide of fall outs continues. In EY, they have a better claim of being heir to the Toras Ashkenaz, because there too, there was rampant poverty, isolation (much reduced) and tight communities. Still, the cosmopolitan and hedonistic alternative is still out there, and those that don’t stay “close to home” get very lost. Al chet shechatanu lefancha b’simihon levav.
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