I have some sympathy for the position R. Derovan took in the most recent
Lookjed, but I don't think it is all of the picture. The Hazon Ish is only
one of the possible positions Jews have staked out on these matters.
Both descriptively and normatively, I don't think it tells the whole
story.
Descriptively, it has never been true that Jews over the course of history
have adopted a "pure" Torah value system. They have always been
influenced and concerned with contemporary mores and values. Rambam was an
Aristotelian when Aristotle was popular; Rav Hirsch was a Romantic when
that was popular; Rav Soloveitchik an existentialist; etc. etc. Indeed,
if you will pardon the problematic language, Hazon Ish's search for values
that derive from pure halakhah is a kind of fundamentalism now that
fundamentalism is popular.
Normatively, Jews have practiced Judaism, and halakhah has accounted for,
contemporary values. It is now prohibited for Ashkanazi men to be
polygamous; we don't perform yibum; and we don't practice Hebrew (or
gentile) slavery. By R. Derovan's logic, presumably we should strive to
be polygamous, and encourage (or at least not discourage) slavery.
Yoel
