Rabbi Soloveitchik

Monday, October 31, 2016

A Moral Issue

"The aftermath of Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982, and the attack on the Palestinian refugee camps by Lebanese Christians, left a moral stain on Israel. In the Knesset there was a demand for a thorough inquiry into the massacres and a clarification if Israel was in any way responsible. The left wing political parties were in favor of the inquiry. The right wing parties were opposed to it. Mizrachi joined them in opposing any inquiry. Rav Soloveitchik was informed of the position taken by Mizrachi. A vote was scheduled for a Sunday. The Rav called Rabbi Friedman at the Jewish Agency and instructed him to call Israel in his name and to demand that Mizrachi vote for the resolution. The Rav said that it is not a political issue but a moral one and Mizrachi had to act morally. So insistent was the Rav that he told Rabbi Friedman to call Israel on Shabbat to convey his message! The call was an halachic order by the Rav to Rabbi Friedman. The call was made on Shabbat. Mizrachi voted for the inquiry."

Orthodoxy Awakens, The Belkin Era and Yeshiva University, Victor Geller, p. 258

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Welcome

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, or the Rav (translation: The Rabbi), as he is generally called by his students, was one of the greatest Jewish leaders and Torah scholars of the 20th century. He possessed many qualities of special relevance to people of our era, including the following:

• He spent enormous energy attempting to show the meaning and relevance of Torah to a 20th century Western audience.

• He was a master of Talmud, Halacha, Bible, and Jewish philosophy. In addition, the Rav had a broad secular education, having earned a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Berlin.

• He was a highly eloquent pedagogue, a riveting speaker, and a brilliant writer. Not every genius is a great communicator. The Rav could communicate myriad aspects of Torah from intricate Talmudic logic to subtle philosophical ideas. Moreover, he was fluent in English.

• The Rav loved his audience and relished the act of teaching.

This website is a collection of resources for study of the Rav’s life and teachings. You can find here books (over 70 of them), articles, sound recordings (hundreds of them), videos, photos, and links to works by the Rav, his students, and scholars of his work. The material is challenging and you may need a dictionary to get through some of it. But it is well worth the effort.

If you have material related to Rabbi Soloveitchik that you would like to disseminate please contact me. This can include notes, recordings, or your own completed writings or works in progress.

Click here to listen to The Rav's famous description of how he experienced the Mesorah (Jewish Torah tradition) through the act of teaching (YUTorah.org)

Video of the Rav Giving a Public Talk

Rav Soloveitchik Teshuvah Drasha 1975

Documentary Preview

Includes video and audio of the Rav

A Lecture by the Rav: Aseres Hadibros Michilta Part 2 - OU.org

Ship Manifests of the Rav's Immigration to the US and His Return from Eretz Israel in 1935

New Publications/Media


Mesorat HaRav Chumash Dr. Arnold Lustiger

Articles:

Article about arrival in the US in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 1932

The Two Adams by Microsoft Founder Bill Gates
Judaism: Rav Soloveitchik and social issues series: Who gets the kingship by Dr. Chaim Charles Cohen

Classes:

Rav Soloveitchik on the High Holidays (September 3, 10, 17) Instructor: Rabbi Jeffrey Saks, WebYeshiva.org

Recordings:

Chinuch Atzmai: The Untold Story of How Rav Aharon Kotler, Irving Bunim, Stephen Klein, and Zev Wolfson gathered with Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik to save 26,000 children in Israel

Multiple Faces of the Rav, Mrs. Atara Twersky, the Rav's Daughter, YU 20th Yarzheit

Rav Aharon Adler at Yom Iyun Harav Soloveitchik - Raanana. A personal perspective (H)

Handouts:

ADDENDUM TO KOREN MESORAT HARAV SIDDUR, Collected by Dr. Arnold Lustiger, Posted with permission

This website is non-commercial. Links to booksellers are for the convenience of site visitors. We do not receive any commission for books, tapes, or CDs listed here.

We cannot vouch for the cyber-safety of any downloads you make from sites linked to this site.

Banner photo courtesy of Yeshiva University

Monday, August 15, 2016

Articles

(Partial Listing)

"Confrontation" (Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Thought, 1964: 6, #2) From Tradition 17:2 (Spring, 1978)
"The Community", p. 7-24
"Majesty and Humility", p. 25-37
"Catharsis", p. 38-54
"Redemption, Prayer and Talmud Torah", p. 55-73
"A Tribute to the Rebbetzin of Talne", p. 73-83
"U-bekashtem Misham", Hadarom 47:1-836, 1979
Hesped le Rav Chaim Ozer Grodzinsky", HaPardes, Shana 14 Choveret 7, 1940.
"R' Chaim Heller Zt"l Shmuel haKatan shel Doreinu HaPardes, 32-33, 1962.
Letter to Editor, Cantorial Council of America Bulletin, Vol. 4#1, 1965.
On repetition of words by the cantor, translated by Rabbi Schonfeld.
"Sacred and Profane, Kodesh and Chol in World Perspective," Gesher, Vol. 3#1, p5-29, 1966.
"Cheto haKaved shel Dorenu" Hapardes, Shana 30 Choveret 1:24-27, 1955.
"U-bekashtem Misham", Hadarom 47:1-836, 1979.
"Iyunim be-nusach ha-kiddush shel shabbat" shana be-shana, 159-173, 1980
"Surrendering to the Almighty," Light 17, Kislev 5736-1976.

Monday, August 1, 2016

LESSONS FROM HIS MOTHER

Most of all I learned that Judaism expresses itself not only in formal compliance with the law but also in a living experience. She taught me that there is a flavor, a scent and warmth to mitzvot. I learned from her the most important thing in life—to feel the presence of the Almighty and the gentle pressure of His hand resting upon my frail shoulders.

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, “A Tribute to the Rebbetzen of Talne,” Tradition 17:2, Spring 1978, p. 7

Sunday, July 3, 2016

Rav Soloveitchik Teshuvah Drasha 1975

Our interest in humanity

"There are religiously committed Jews who are indifferent to the concerns of the larger non-Jewish society. They are content to reside in isolated communities with unconcern, if not actual disdain, for the Gentile world and for the problems which afflict humanity. This introversion can be explained as a reaction to the centuries-old derision and persecution which have been the Jewish historical experience and to which they were subjected with particular ferocity in modern times. Nowadays, there are particular aspects of moral perversion afflicting the general society which are repellant to Jewish sensibilities. Nevertheless, this insularity cannot be vindicated as authentic Judaism even if it can be understood and justified in particular historical periods and situations." Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, Man of Faith in the Modern World, p. 73.

The Beauty of Religion

The error of modern representatives of religion is that they promise their congregants the solution to all the problems of life − an expectation which religion does not fulfill. Religion, on the contrary, deepens the problems but never intends to solve them. The grandeur of religion lies in its mysterium tremendum its magnitude and its ultimate incomprehensibility. To cite one example, we may adduce the problem of theodicy, the justification of evil in the world, that has tantalized the inquiring mind from time immemorial till this last tragic decade. The acuteness of this problem has grown for the religious person in essence and dimensions. When a minister, rabbi, or priest attempts to solve the ancient question of Job's suffering through as sermon or lecture, he does not promote religious ends, but, on the contrary, does them a disservice. The beauty of religion with its grandiose vistas reveals itself to men, not in solutions but in problems, not in harmony but in the constant conflict of diversified forces and trends.

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, "Sacred and Profane", Gesher, Vol. 3, No. 1, p. 7 in Besdin, A, Reflections of the Rav, p. 224)

Ethical Values

…the religious person is given not only a duty to follow the halakha but also a value and vision. The person performing the duty seeks to realize this ideal or vision. Kant felt that the duty of consciousness expresses only a "must" without a value. He demanded a routine form of compliance, an "ought" without aiming at a value. As a soldier carries out his duty to the commanding officer, one may appreciate his service or just obey through discipline and orders. Kant's ethics are a "formal ethics", the goal is not important. For us it would be impossible to behave this way. An intelligent person must find comfort, warmth, and a sense of fulfillment in the law. We deal with ethical values, not ethical formalisms. A sense of pleasure must be gained by fulfilling a norm. The ethical act must have an end and purpose. We must become holy.

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Mesorat HaRav Siddur, p. 112-3