Confronted by the phalanx of questions included in this symposium, I find myself responding instinctively with two reservations. The first is the obvious rejoinder that such a range can hardly receive adequate treatment in the space allot ted to each participant. The second, in a more personal vein, is recoil from futuristic projections, in general, […]
Rav Matis Greenblatt’s sensitive and illuminating portrait (“Rabbi Yitzchak Hutner: The Vision Before His Eyes,” Summer 2001) of our mutual rebbi, served both the Rosh Yeshivah (as we all called him) and the readers of Jewish Action well. On the one hand, it has enlarged the spiritual bounds of a public to whom he was, […]
A symposium which opens by asking participants to identify “our generation’s greatest achievement” was, presumably, planned by an optimist; and I’m afraid that, within its context, the designation of “survival and continuity” as a response must seem disappointingly pessimistic. Yet, what else can one say? In 1942, or in 1945 for that matter, did anyone envision any more pressing need?
Dr. Kolbrener’s critique of my essay is unquestionably framed within the language and context of what Coventry Patmore denominated “the traditions of civility.” It is learned, urbane, deferential, cogently argued and suffused with sensitivity, intelligence and commitment.
Confronted by the phalanx of questions included in this symposium, I find myself responding instinctively with two reservations. The first is the obvious rejoinder that such a range can hardly receive adequate treatment in the space allotted to each participant.
“Who prop, thou ask’st, in these bad days, my mind?” Thus opened Matthew Arnold an early sonnet, To A Friend. I believe that, unlike Maimonides, I do not generally experience the days as bad: and I am quite certain that if I did, Arnold’s choices –Homer, Epictetus and Sophocles — would not provide the requisite […]
Confronted by the phalanx of questions included in this symposium, I find myself responding instinctively with two reservations. The first is the obvious rejoinder that such a range can hardly receive adequate treatment in the space allotted to each participant. The second, in a more personal vein, is recoil from futuristic projections, in general, and […]
That Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, zt”l, was relatively unknown to the general Israeli public — the secular press was astounded by the attendance of a quarter of a million people at his funeral — was largely to his credit. The ignorance derived, in essence, from his studied lifelong avoidance of the confrontational arena.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, we published “Seeking Answers with Humility,” an article exploring the Jewish response to pain and suffering. The article, which was adapted from an address by Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein but was not reviewed by him, included a reference to Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner’s approach to suffering. Below, Rabbi Lichtenstein offers a […]
The Eye of the Storm: A Calm View of Raging Issues By Rabbi Aharon Feldman Yad Yosef Publications Jerusalem, 2009 244 pages Few contemporary roshei yeshivah have been endowed with the capacity to write a volume such as The Eye of the Storm; and of the coterie that could, many, if not most, are probably […]