An example of the finest Jewish aristocracy – that of Torah and scholarship – the "בית הרב." Lithuanian before RHV (R. Hayyim Volizhin) – a desert. After him "am basis. VY (Volozhin Yeshiva) has been termed "not a town, or school, but a concept." The "Dynasty": RHV; his son R. Issac (R. Itzelle); then his first son-in-law R. Eliezer Issac, who died young, had very brief term. Then controversy over succession between R. Israel's 2nd son-in-law, נצי"ב, and R. Joseph Baer Soloveitchik (בית הלוי).

This is a series of five lectures on five of the most distinguished and influential halakhic scholars of modern times. Each lecture presents the biography of the man in question, describes his major works, and his influence in his lifetime and over succeeding generations. A good part of each lecture is devoted to presenting some of the halakhic concepts and intellectual achieve­ments of the subject of the lecture. Since this is often quite technical, the material is simplified, and is supplemented by some brief commentaries and insights by the subject under discussion. Source material may be found in Rabbi Zevin's Ishim ve'Shitot, and in the two series by the late Rabbi Y.L. Maimon, Sarei ha־Meiah, and Midei Hodesh beHadsho, and related literature.The Gaon of Vilna. The family background of Rabbi Elijah, and the incredible genius revealed at the very earliest age. His ascetic bent, and total devotion to study. Leader of the opposition to the Hasidim. The Gaon as Kabbalist. His relation to Eretz Israel. Pioneering work in external and internal criticism of the Talmud. His attitude to philosophy and secular studies. His anti-rationalism.Rabbi Hayyim of Volozhin. Family background. His relationship to the Gaon of Vilna. His sterling character. Founder of the Yeshiva of Volozhin and his educational philosophy. The leading theoretician of the Mitnaggedim. His view of classical Rabbinism and opposition to Hasidism. Unprecedented emphasis on the study of Torah. His Nefesh ha-Hayyim ("The Living Soul").Rabbi Hayyim Soleveitchik of Brisk. The Beit ha-Rav — the intellectual Torah aristocracy beginning with the Gaon. H1s father and the "Netziv." As Rosh Yeshiva in Volozhin. His Rabbinate 1n Brisk. Founder of a new talmudic methodology: the halakhic dichotomy. Examples, especially concerning laws of prayer. Attitude to Hasidim-Mitnaggedim controversy. View on suspension of the Law where there is danger to life. A man of truth and a man of compassion.Rabbi Joseph Rosen, the Gao…

I am grateful to Rabbi Aharon Soloveitchik for his recent lecture in this series on the halakhic parameters of TuM. Although there is still much more that can and should be said about TuM even from a purely halakhic perspective, and I hope to add to it in time, his masterful treatment leaves me free to discuss other aspects of this endlessly fascinating subject as the focus of this lecture. TuM has a long and honorable history, even though it has usually not been the majority expression for long periods. An important volume is now being written, commissioned by us, presenting this history from the days of the Tannaim and Amoraim through the period of the Rishonim and Acharonim. This book will provide for us documentation of the precedents of our שיטה from the very beginning through Rav Hirsch and Rav Kook. I know that these chapters, being prepared by distinguished scholars, will prove fascinating and mind—expanding both for faculty and students. Y.U. is the home of TuM in our times. TuM is an idea and ideal which defines our mission and gives meaning and purpose to our institutional existence. I say, with regret, that there is no other major center of Torah Umadda in our period of history. As a short exercise of imagination, try this: if the Rambam were alive today, where would he teach if not here at Y.U. Indeed, who else would invite him to teach without worrying either that he was the author of the משנה תורה or the מורה נבוכים?... Interestingly, the Sephardi experience, especially during the Italian Renaissance, included a very natural, relaxed, unapologetic acceptance of what we now call TuM, without even bothering much to explain and defend it as an ideology. The Ashkenazi experience was, for a variety of historical reasons, much more tense, anxious, and withdrawn. In today's lecture, we shall attempt to find an ideological grounding for our שיטה of TuM not so much in the writings of the Sephardic Rishonim, where we might expect to find it, but דוקא in the ve…

Zaddikism: On the one hand it is very necessary because people want a spiritual authority who can inspire them. The Modern Orthodox rabbi does not usually fill that role. The problem with this is that it is overdone — including the contemporary Mitnagdic world — and instead of spiritual authority we have spiritual authoritarianism... The real meaning of emunat chakhamim is either the Chakhmei ha-Mesorah who formulated the Talmud and the Oral Law generally, or — perhaps — the faith of a scholar, namely, not blind acceptance but critical and analytic faith...2) Prayer. We have much to learn from Hasidic prayer, and indeed the current popularity of Shlomo Carlbach is testimony of that (we should not worry over much about the negative aspects of this fad — because much of it is a fad, but at the same time it is a genuine appreciation of his musical genius and his ability to inspire faith).3) The Hasidic teaching that we can implement our fear of God in daily activities, not merely when we study Torah or perform official mitzvot. Thus, the Berditchever explanation of Torah im Derekh Eretz as opposed to that of R. Chaim Volozhiner.4) Classical Rabbinism, in its Mitnagdic mode stresses so highly the value of Torah study that it consequently negates the value of ordinary labor. Hasidism, by contrast, not only maintains that Torah is implemented by observing it in the marketplace, as an example, but also, as the Besht taught, you must give full concentration to whatever you are doing, live it fully and do it for the sake of Heaven. Further, according to this perspective, Torah of course remains the most important item on the Jewish agenda, but not to the extent that it suffocates all else. Thus, the spiritual element of elevation of character, of “worship through corporeality,” sanctify daily life and “ordinary” labor...5) Hasidism strongly believes in spontaneity, and abjured any form of artifice. (Thus, when Rabbi Elimelch of Lizensk was complimented by a visitor upon spe…