Rabbi Soloveitchik: Lectures

"He (Abraham) was a resident, like other inhabitants of Canaan, sharing with them a concern for the welfare of society, digging wells, and contributing to the progress of the country in loyalty to its government and institutions. Here, Abraham was clearly a fellow citizen, a patriot among compatriots, joining others in advancing the common welfare. However, there was another aspect, the spiritual, in which Abraham regarded himself as a stranger. His identification and solidarity with his fellow citizens in the secular realm did not imply his readiness to relinquish any aspects of his religious uniqueness. His was a different faith and he was governed by perceptions, truths, and observances which set him apart from the larger faith community. In this regard, Abraham and his descendants would always remain 'strangers.'" Reflections of the Rav, p. 169

The Rav lectured prolifically throughout his lifetime. Many of his classes were recorded, others were redacted in books and articles, and others were retransmitted in classes by his students and scholars of his work.

Books

(partial list)

Excerpt on Chanuka from Mesechta Shabbos
Rabbi Hershel Schachter
(Courtesy of Torahweb.org)

Excerpts from Reshimos Shiurim on Baba Kama, Rav Hershel Reichman (Courtesy of Rabbi Reichman)

Reshimos Shiurim, p. 2 (Baba Kama)
Reshimos Shiurim, p. 3 (Baba Kama)
Reshimos Shiurim, p. 4 (Baba Kama)
Reshimos Shiurim, p. 5 (Baba Kama)

RECORDINGS

We recommend noise cancelling headphones to improve sound quality. Many of these recordings are decades old. Please first confer with your physician if you have health issues concerning your hearing. *Indicates better sound quality.

heartherav.org ( no longer operative)

TheTeffilin of Rabbeinu Tam

Yarzeit Shiur March 2, 1975 at Yeshiva University. Sound enhanced recording and complete transcription fromwww.heartherav.com, length: approximately 2 hours.

Rav Soloveitchik: An Eye for an Eye - Torah Musings

Bergen County Beis Medrash Program- BCBM.org

· Gemara/Halacha

·         Parsha
·         Moadim
·         Yartzeit
·         Machshava/Other

Other

The Role of the Rabbi (The Yiddish Voice, 5/15/55) In Yiddish
Purim, the Rambam (Kosher4Passover.com)
Purim and Megillas Esther (Kosher4Passover.com)
Notes on Comments to Social Workers (Alan Brill)

Transcript

Rav Soloveitchik on the Pesach Haggadah

Transcribed by Rabbi Aton Holzer from lectures delivered by Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik in Yeshiva University and Moriah Synagogue (YUTorah.org)

Talmud Torah and Kabalas Ol Malchus Shamayim

Adaptation

The First Jewish Grandfather

Leadership (Torah.org, pdf.) or Leadership (Torah.org, html) Lecture given June 10, 1974

On the Love of Torah

Teshuva Lectures

Translated and organized by Dr. Arnold Lustiger:
(Source for these links: Josh Cypress’s site on the Rav)

The Avoda Recitation and Yom Kippur Tefillah (1971)
Overview

The Significance of the Various Appellations for Yom Kippur (1993)

The Teshuva Process During the Yamim Nora'im (1994)

Other

Jewish Ethics and the Ten Commandments

Lecture Before Rabbinical Council of America (June 22, 1972)

in Deroshos HaRav, Appendix B

The Rav in the Artscroll Stone Chumash

Parshas Toldos, Genesis 28:4 "the blessing of Abraham."

Parshas Vayigash, Genesis 45:20 "And let your eyes."

Parshas Kedoshim, Leviticus 19:3 "My Sabbaths"

Parshas Nasso, Numbers 7:10 "Then the leaders brought forward."

Parshas Korach, Numbers 16:3, "It is too much for you."

The Rav in Rabbi Yissocher Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Tapes

Parshas Chayei Sarah

Parshas Yisro

Tape Library of Rabbi Milton Nordlicht

Email - MNORDL@aol.com

Phone - (718) 261-7770

Fax - (718) 261-7774

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.Reflections of the Rav, p. 135

..the study of the Torah is an ecstatic, metaphysical performance; the study of Torah is an act of surrender. That is whychazal stress so many times the importance of humility, and that the proud person can never be a great scholar, only the humble person. Why is humility necessary? Because the study of Torah means meeting the Almighty, and if a finite being meets the infinite, the Almighty, the Maker of the world, of course this meeting must precipitate a mood of humility, and humility results in surrender. Partial transcript of an address to the RCA Convention, 1975, on the topic of gerut. Transcribed by Eitan Fiorino in http://mail-

If true prayer takes place in the heart one does not need a master of ceremonies to mediate between the congregation and the Creator. Judaism teaches that every individual possesses a heart full of love - conscious or unconscious - for God; his heart is as near to the Gates of Heaven as that of the "clergyman," often more so. There is no need for the "rabbi" to stand on a pulpit, adorned with the "priestly vestements, " to stage the prayers. He and the simple Jew have exactly the same status before God. Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Shiurei HaRav, edited by Joseph Epstein ( Hoboken, New Jersey: Ktav, 1974), adapted translation by Shalom Carmywith Menachem Kasdan from Maayonot, Tefillah 5724, Department of Jewish Education for the Diaspora, p. 84.

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt to be your God.” (Numbers 15) God is not portrayed here as the Creator, because the cosmic experience is too formal and abstract. God does not wish to appear as a tyrant to whom man must submit. The vastness of the cosmos frightens man, and he cannot transport himself to the outer fringes of the universe to meet Him.... man is still overwhelmed by the cosmos and he thus insists on another act of sacrifice: he invites God to join him in his historic destiny, to become his leader, friend, and guide, but also his prisoner. It is in a sense impudent on man's part to restrict God's Presence to an even smaller area by including Him in a comparatively limited historical process, thereby making His "sacrifice" even greater. Yet God indeed engages in this act of regression, from infinite to finite; He willingly descends from the unalterable cosmic drama to the fleeting historical process. (Mesorat HaRav Siddur, p. 112-5)

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

Rabbi Soloveitchik

Lectures

Books

RECORDINGS

heartherav.org ( no longer operative)

Bergen County Beis Medrash Program- BCBM.org

Eric Levy Site

Lectures on mp3

YUTorah.org

Rabbi David Etengoff

Other

Transcript

Adaptation

Teshuva Lectures

Other

The Rav in the Artscroll Stone Chumash

The Rav in Rabbi Yissocher Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Tapes

Tape Library of Rabbi Milton Nordlicht

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