Insights Of Rabbi Joseph B Soloveitchik

Comprised of extracts from Soloveitchik's own writings, and from tapes which Weiss translated from the Yiddish and incorporated into the book. Weiss has also extracted from articles and essays from various rabbis and scholars to reconstruct numerous insights of Soloveitchik.

Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik was not only one of the outstanding Talmudists and religious leaders of the 20th century, but also one of its most creative and seminal Jewish thinkers. This comprehensive study of Rabbi Soloveitchik's religious philosophy offers a broad perspective and balanced understanding of his work. By interpreting and analyzing both individual essays and overarching themes in an accessible and engaging manner, it uncovers the depth, majesty, and fascination of his thought.

Joseph B. Soloveitchik, the rabbi known as “The Rav” by his followers worldwide, was a leading authority on the meaning of Jewish law and prominent force in building bridges between traditional Orthodox Judaism and the modern world. In THE LONELY MAN OF FAITH, a soaring, eloquent essay first published in Tradition magazine in 1965, Soloveitchik investigates the essential loneliness of the person of faith in our narcissistic, materially oriented, utilitarian society. In this modern classic, Soloveitchik uses the story of Adam and Eve as a springboard, interweaving insights from such important Western philosophers as Kierkegaard and Kant with innovative readings of Genesis to provide guidance for the faithful in today’s world. He explains prayer as “the harbinger of moral reformation,” and discusses with empathy and understanding the despair and exasperation of individuals who seek personal redemption through direct knowledge of a God who seems remote and unapproachable. He shows that while the faithful may become members of a religious community, their true home is “the abode of loneliness.” In a moving personal testimony, Soloveitchik demonstrates a deep-seated commitment, intellectual courage, and integrity that people of all religions will respond to.

"This first volume recounts the details of the lives of the Rav and his forebears. This volume and the next constitute a scholarly attempt to detail the quests and ideas of one of the major personalities of modern American Jewish Orthodoxy". -- Jacket.

The subject of repentance, or teshuvoh, captivated Rabbi Soloveitchik's imagination, and it is easy to understand why. As a transformation of the personality in response to the divine will, teshuvah uncovers the depths of human nature and of man's relationship with God. In addressing repentance, Rabbi Soloveitchik confronted questions such as: Can a person change? Is one's personality static or dynamic? What is the relationship between reason and emotion, between sin and suffering, between guilt and growth, past and future, free will and causality? How is one to approach God - with love or fear, as an individual or as part of a community, appealing to grace or justice, with a sense of self-nullification or self-worth? Given the issues raised, it is no wonder that some of Rabbi Soloveitchik's most religiously powerful and psychologically penetrating insights appear in his discussions of repentance. This classic volume speaks to the sensitive and searching soul not just during the days of penitence but throughout the entire year. Book jacket.

"Community, Covenant and Commitment, edited by Nathaniel Helfgot, brings to light unpublished manuscripts and material of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, the foremost Orthodox Jewish thinker of the 20th century. It includes close to eighty letters and communications, most never published before, on a wide range of communal, political and theological issues that confronted American Jewry in the twentieth century, including Communal and Public Policy Issues; Academic and Educational Issues; Orthodoxy, the Synagogue and the American Jewish Community; Religious Zionism and the State of Israel; Interreligious Affairs; and Torah, Philosophical and Personal Insights.

In Halakhic Positions of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, insights into Jewish law from the preeminent figure of twentieth-century modern Orthodoxy are presented in a clear and concise manner. Commonly known as 'the Rav,' Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, zt'l, has stimulated and influenced the intellectual mind and touched the sensitive hearts of thousands of people. While he was not necessarily known as a decisor, or poseik, of halakha, he was widely recognized as an individual who had the uncanny ability to conceptualize the spirit of Jewish law on a universal level. Throughout his lifetime, the Rav published few works, transmitting his Torah knowledge through classes and lectures instead. As a student of Rabbi Soloveitchik for many years, Rabbi Aharon Ziegler accumulated a vast library of notes and tapes on the Rav's halakhot. In this volume he shares the Rav's unique and perhaps lesser known halakhic positions on a wide range of topics, including: The procedure for lighting candles on Friday night; Celebrating Thanksgiving and eating turkey; Using grape juice for the four cups of wine at a Seder; Giving an aliyah on Mincha Yom Kippur to someone who cannot fast; Covering one's head during davening; Fast days and pregnant women; Bris Milah through a nonobservant Mohel; Discarding old, worn-out tzitzis; and Many other issues involving the Sabbath, holidays, prayer, and life cycle events. Whether studied in the synagogue, school, or Jewish home, these words of wisdom from the Rav provide glimpses into the exceptional mind of one of the greatest thinkers in Jewish history.