I am very fond of the Middle Ages. In fact, in high school I used to carry around with me Dante. And I recall even trying to go through Bewolf in Ancient English.
So in Shar Yashuv and seeing the greatness of the Rishonim was right up my alley. [That is the general rule in Litvak yeshivas is after you have gotten the Tosphot down, you go to the three major rishonim, Rashba, Ramban [Nahmanides], and the Ritva.
This idea that the middle ages had grains of truth and intensity that are entirely lacking nowadays.
And so my first gut reaction when I see Christians I think to myself, "These people need Thomas Aquinas." Same with Muslims. I think to myself, "If only they would be studying Ibn Rushd, Al Kindi and Al Farabi how much better the world would be."
But not to deny the importance of Physics and Math and advances in natural sciences. Nor to deny the greatness of Kant, and Leonard Nelson. But I just wonder why people nowadays seem to always look on the Middle Ages as some kind of quaint period that has nothing to teach us.
Though I admit the Rishonim for me were hard to get into. I spent most of my time with the Maharsha and even commentaries on the Maharsha. I saw some of the amazing depth of Rishonim with Naphtali Yegeer in Shar Yashuv, and Rav Shemuel Berenbaum at the Mir. But it was hard for me to get to see that depth on my own until I started looking at the Avi Ezri of Rav Shach.
Though I admit the Rishonim for me were hard to get into. I spent most of my time with the Maharsha and even commentaries on the Maharsha. I saw some of the amazing depth of Rishonim with Naphtali Yegeer in Shar Yashuv, and Rav Shemuel Berenbaum at the Mir. But it was hard for me to get to see that depth on my own until I started looking at the Avi Ezri of Rav Shach.
