2008 Woodie Awards
BOOK REVIEW: Opening the Rav's Mailbox
Josh Harrison
Issue date: 4/18/05 Section: Features
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Community, Covenant and Commitment: Selected Letters and Communications Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik.
Ed. Nathaniel Helfgot.
MeOtzer HaRav Foundation.
350 pp; $26.85
From Rabbi Soloveitchik's opinion on the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary's (RIETS) curriculum to the previously unpublished letter on chaplaincy for Yeshiva Rabbis, Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot's new collection of the letters of the Rav, Community, Covenant and Commitment impresses the reader with the breadth of its subject matter. In one letter we see R. Soloveitchik talking about ritual slaughter; in another he takes on interfaith dialogue. Helfgot assembled this tableau so that "people could see the Rav dealing with real-life issues." Community, Covenant and Commitment does indeed fulfill this directive.
Some of the aforementioned real life issues are still hot topics. Interfaith dialogue still draws ire in the halls of Yeshiva, ritual slaughter is still gory, and there is still a need for Jews to minister in the military. The chaplaincy letter has the added distinction of being the only real responsa we have from the Rav. Some of the issues dealt with in the book, from short reminiscences to friendly missives to letters defending the (now-defunct) Belfer School of Science, seem less relevant. To his credit, Helfgot does not seem to have omitted the letters that do not deal with contemporary controversies (circa 2005). Helfgot wanted to expose people to the decision-making process of the Rav. Whether the decisions were on matters that affect us or not, the calculation and the process and the eloquence remain relevant.
Rabbi Hershel Schachter's Nefesh HaRav and MiPenenei HaRav and Aaron Ziegler's books on the Halachic decisions of Rabbi Soloveitchik, are part of a whole gamut of books that explore the halakhic and Talmudic thought of the Rav. Plumbing the depths of his thought, transcriptions of his lectures abound. Among these books, Helfgot's seems out of place. Instead of dealing with halakha and Talmudic issues, the mainstay of this literature on the Rav, Helfgot deals with communal issues.
Ed. Nathaniel Helfgot.
MeOtzer HaRav Foundation.
350 pp; $26.85
From Rabbi Soloveitchik's opinion on the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary's (RIETS) curriculum to the previously unpublished letter on chaplaincy for Yeshiva Rabbis, Rabbi Nathaniel Helfgot's new collection of the letters of the Rav, Community, Covenant and Commitment impresses the reader with the breadth of its subject matter. In one letter we see R. Soloveitchik talking about ritual slaughter; in another he takes on interfaith dialogue. Helfgot assembled this tableau so that "people could see the Rav dealing with real-life issues." Community, Covenant and Commitment does indeed fulfill this directive.
Some of the aforementioned real life issues are still hot topics. Interfaith dialogue still draws ire in the halls of Yeshiva, ritual slaughter is still gory, and there is still a need for Jews to minister in the military. The chaplaincy letter has the added distinction of being the only real responsa we have from the Rav. Some of the issues dealt with in the book, from short reminiscences to friendly missives to letters defending the (now-defunct) Belfer School of Science, seem less relevant. To his credit, Helfgot does not seem to have omitted the letters that do not deal with contemporary controversies (circa 2005). Helfgot wanted to expose people to the decision-making process of the Rav. Whether the decisions were on matters that affect us or not, the calculation and the process and the eloquence remain relevant.
Rabbi Hershel Schachter's Nefesh HaRav and MiPenenei HaRav and Aaron Ziegler's books on the Halachic decisions of Rabbi Soloveitchik, are part of a whole gamut of books that explore the halakhic and Talmudic thought of the Rav. Plumbing the depths of his thought, transcriptions of his lectures abound. Among these books, Helfgot's seems out of place. Instead of dealing with halakha and Talmudic issues, the mainstay of this literature on the Rav, Helfgot deals with communal issues.