Rabbi Jung is to be warmly applauded for focusing public attention upon the "myth of an Orthodox majority in the United States.” In their enthusiasm to catch up with the twentieth century in public relations techniques, some Orthodox organizations have all but outdone themselves. The mighty pronouncements on the numerical strength of Orthodoxy sometimes come uncomfortably close to the thin borderline separating "public relations” from "propaganda.” The illusion created is " pernicious,” as Rabbi Jung puts it, not only because it is "unjustified by the circumstances,” but also because of the effect of this illusory optimism upon those who dwell so complacently in the great metropolitan ghettos and then are suddenly and unexpectedly faced with the harsh realities of the religious complexion of American Jewry. The disappointment can have personal cataclysmic consequences. Nevertheless, there is an equal danger in a counter-myth that has been taking root more recently. It is the myth of despair, a sense of yei’iish which is as morosely blind to the bright spots on the Jewish scene as the first myth is oblivious to the shadows. There is a sense of impending doom that often overtakes those of the older generation whose nostalgic memories of die alte heim make America look pale by comparison. Worse still is the phenomenon of the unthinking "official” who in public proclaims the extravagant "myth of the Orthodox majority” and privately yields to the unintelligent myth of despair. What should be our approach? How are we to steer an even course between these two extremes? First, we must remember that mythology is no substitute for truth, and "public relations” releases do not change cruel facts. Secondly, we must recall certain data from Jewish history which will act as correctives to the sense of hopelessness that often affects minority groups that perhaps have known better days. And these facts will prove to us that loyal, authentic, genuine Jews ("Orthodox” Jews of all ag…

"מורא רבך" אינו נמנה בין מצוות עשה שהזמן גרמא. לפיכך אין צורך למצוא עילה או ליצור אמתלא כדי לחלוק כבוד לאחד מגדולי הדורות. "ח״יובל" שב"ספר היובל לכבוד מרן הגרי״ד הלוי סולובייצ׳יק" שליט״א הוא לאו דוקא, וכבר נאמר "את מטה לוי לא תפקד ואת ראשו לא תשא". ה"כבוד" שבספר הוא העיקר והיסוד שהמריץ את היוזמים ושמונים המשתתפים במפעל זה להקדיש כשרונותיהם ועתותיהם להוצאת כרכים אלה לאור. בלשונה של "דרך בריסק", מצויים שני "קיומים" בעבודתנו זאת: קיום מצות כבוד חכמים – הערצתנו והוקרתנו את אחד מענקי התקופה הזאת, וקיום הכרת הטוב שכולנו רוחשים כלפי אישיות עילאית זאת. מרן חרה״ג רבי יוסף דוב הלוי סולובייצ׳יק שליט״א מכונה בפי אלפים ורבבות "הרב", בלי שום תוארים נוספים, בחינת גדול מרבן שמו. הרב גידל וטיפח והסמיך אלפי רבנים ותלמידי חכמים. על־ידי התלמידים שהעמיד חל שינוי מהותי בטיבה של הקהילה האורתודוכסית בארה״ב. הוא עיצב את דמותם של שנים שלשה דורות של לומדי תורה ושוחרי תורה ביבשת אמריקה, ומצודתו פרושה גם על שאר מדינות הגולה. תורתו נתפשטה גם במדינת ישראל הודות לתלמידיו שעלו ארצה במאותיהם וכתביו שראו אור הדפוס. אישיותו כוללת לא רק גדלות וסמכות בלתי־מעורערת בכל מקצועות התורה – כיורשת המוכר של שיטת סבו הדגול הגאון רבי חיים זצ״ל איש בריסק, אותה פיתח והרחיב ולה הוסיף ממדים חדשים כפי כשרונותיו הסגוליים – אלא גם השכלה כללית גבוהה אותה רכש באוניברסיטת ברלין ובה הוא שולט כאדם העושה בתוך שלו. משך כל כהונתו כראש ישיבה בישיבת רבנו יצחק אלחנן שע״י ישיבה אוניברסיטה – ויאריך ה׳ ימיו על ממלכתו עד מאה ועשרים שנה – שימש דוגמא חיה ל"תורה ומדע", סיסמת המוסד הזה. ויותר שחיה הרב גאון ובעל השכלה, מחונן בכח יצירה נפלא – עוד לימד דעת את העם, איזן, חינך ותיקן שיטת ארץ ישראל עפ״י תורת ישראל של תנועת המזרחי אשר ראתה בו את אחד מראשי מנהיגיה הרוחניים. ספר זה שאנו מגישים לכבוד מורנו הרב שליט״א עשוי שלשה מדורים (מלבד הדברים על אישיותו ומשנתו) ומקביל לברכה המשולשת של עבודתו האינטלקטואלית: הלכה, מחקר, ומדור מיוחד מוקדש להרמב״ם. מדור אחרון זה הוא הודות לקרבת נפשו של הרב לדמותו של הרמב״ם, הן בעומק ניתוחו הן ברחבותו השכלית, ולעובדה שהרב בשעוריו ודרשותיו עוסק כמעט תמיד בספרי "הנשר הגדול", כולל מורה הנבוכים. הרמב״ם קובע, איפוא, ברכ…

Whatever else emerges from events of the recent past, the last year has distinguished itself as one in which public trust and simple ethics were oxymoronic and self-contradictory. In the choice of political leadership, both appointed and elected, in the sporting arena, in the corporate boardroom, even in the administration of philanthropy and the distribution of charity, we have been witness to one social or political institution after the other racked by corruption. Greed and avarice appear the order of the day. balanced by sensational expressions of moral bankruptcy. But for millions, the rank-in-file who work deep within these institutions, high-profile examples of grand corruption on (and off) the job are little more than head-lines. Essentially decent and hard-working folk, they strive to perform competently in increasingly difficult economic circum-stances, often operating under a cloud of cynicism. Yet they all face a less sensational, but no less insidious, ethical problem, which is lost in the tabloid jabbering of the popular media: pedestrian dishonesty. No theft, no misappropriations, no junkets, no kick-backs — just a gnawing undercurrent of mis-trust and suspicion that seems both accepted and encouraged. And often it arises from profound dilemmas in the very nature of their tasks. Attorneys offer an obvious example. Are they primarily advocates for their clients or do they serve as officers of the court? Ideally, they are both, yet the two are often in-compatible, forcing an inevitable compromise in both honesty and judgment. The choice is often, painfully, between roles as "hired guns” and as self-righteous dispensers of justice. Similarly, consider the relationship between client and provider in almost any social service agency. Whether the subject is benefits, eligibility, or filing requirements, honesty is the rare policy. Case workers seem to be of several minds here. Some argue-that they too must be advocates for their clients — even if it means …

"Is not My word like a fire? says the Lord; and like a hammer that breaks the rock into pieces?” The divine word, says Jeremiah, is layered or multi-dimensional. Like the many splinters of a rock split by a hammer, so the divine message lends itself to manifold situations and interpretations. Torah, like its Giver, is capable of many explications and applications, the same holds true for teachers of Torah: they are not monochromatic, and their teachings, like Torah itself arc multivalent; they can be understood at many levels, reveal many secret aspects of the Torah, and throw light on the most obscure passages.Such a person was our great teacher, the Rav, Rabbi Joseph B. Solovietchik, of blessed memory. His essays give us a glimpse of the complexity of his personality as well as the universality of his legacy as perceived by his students. His genius, his probing intellect, his unassailable loyalty to the God of Israel, his incredible mastery of Halakha and Aggada, and the broad sweep of his knowledge of so many other disciplines - all made him resistant to easy classifications. He was a man who could never be bored and, equally, could never be boring. He was the Teacher par excellence, and we were honored to be allowed into his class.His complexity and coruscant creativity were such that he rarely repeated interpretations of a text when he came to it at a later date. Thus, when I was a student of his; we learned the tractate Shahhat. His sheurim were, of course, masterful. Several years later, I heard that he had given sheurim on the same tractate. I managed to obtain the notes of some of his very good students - ־ and there was hardly any relation between the interpretations he gave when I was in his class and the new ones! He simply approached the material with a fresh mind, and exercised those areas of his creative brain to yield insights that were new and different from what he had offered previously.Moreover, the range of his intellectual interest was extreme…