There is an article in Leaves of Faith (Volume 1), titles The End of Learning, By Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein which lays forward the argument for why reading fine literature is important, albeit in an ancillory role to Torah Learning, which is and must be the ikkar. It’s a worthwhile read, and is a cogent and eloquent attempt to answer some of the questions Ready Now has been raising. You don’t have to accept Rav Lichtenstein’s conclusions, but he is a Gadol b’Torah, and his arguments cannot simply be dismissed out of hand. For those of you who do not have a copy of the sefer, if you go to googlebooks and search the book, the article is included within the portions you can browse online (http://books.google.co.il/books?id=QYDiAJUk2yYC&pg=PR7&hl=iw&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=3#v=onepage&q&f=false if the MOD lets me post the link)
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