Rabbi Soloveitchik

Monday, September 13, 2021

25th Yahrzeit of Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik

25th Yahrzeit of Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik - Machshava from OU - OU Torah

Two discussions commemorating the Rav's life and legacy, held on the occasion of his 25th yahrzeit at Congregation Shomrei Emunah in Englewood, NJ.

Introduction: Rabbi Moshe Genack

Speakers: Rabbi Hershel Schachter, Rabbi Menachem Genack

Tuesday, August 17, 2021

Spontaneous variegated desire

Man must worship his Creator not only out of a feeling of absolute decree and coercion but also out of spontaneous variegated desire and aspiration which gladdens the heart. The Torah commands us to serve God with joy, with longing and yearning, enjoyment and happiness, unfettered pleasure, and the soul's delight. When man does not see God and sense His presence at every turn; when he thinks of God only out of fear of punishment, with a cool intellect, without ecstasy, joy or enthusiasm; when his actions lack soul, inwardness and vitality, then his religious life is flawed. At the same time, if man is not always aware of God, if he does not walk with God in all his ways and paths, if he does not sense God's touch on his stooped shoulders in times of distress and loneliness imparting a certain comfort and encouragement, then his service is likewise incomplete. (Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, And From There You Shall Seek in Mesorat HaRav Siddur, p. 77)

Wednesday, September 9, 2020

binding agreement

"Abraham did not deny his son to God. In exchange, God said, Because you have done this thing and you did not withhold your son, your only one., [t]hat I will surely bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand that is on the seashore, and your descendents will inherit the cities of their enemies (verses 16-17). This was the kinyan chalipin, a legally binding transaction based on an exchange of property. You give Me your son, and I will give you your future. And once the kinyan is made, it is an agreement and a covenant that can never be changed. When we say "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God Of Jacob," we do not mean God should love us because He loved Abraham. We say that He should love us because he singed a binding agreement with Abraham that requires Him to love us. (The Lord is Righteous in All in Ways, p 53) - Mesoras HaRav Chumash, Bereishis, p. 155.

Sunday, February 9, 2020

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik on Torah Study

Sunday, April 21, 2019

not crimped and circumscribed

There is one power authority that the Torah not only sanctions but encourages in Jewish society, that of the teacher-student relationship. Our leader is not the king, nor the warrior, but the Torah scholar whose authority is that of a Rebbe over his talmidim….(However) the authority of the teacher is not imposed; no coercion or political instrument is employed. His authority emerges from his personality; his learning and selflessness are acknowledged. Not fear but affection and respect motivate one’s submission. A teacher is a master, like a king. At times, he inspires emulation of his way of thinking and his general deportment, but this does not result in the enslavement of his disciples. The students are not crimped and circumscribed; their souls are not shriveled through fear and conformity. On the contrary, there is an enlargement and growth of the total personality.

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Reflections of the Rav, p. 135

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