by R. Basil Herring Needless to say, the Rosh Hashana Machzor reflects many of the well-known themes of the Yamim Noraim. To name but a few: judgement, forgiveness, and punishment; repentance, remorse, and resolution for the future, petition and request for the entire spectrum of needs and desires; Rosh Hashana as the anniversary of creation; descriptions of the heavenly angels ...
Read More »Did the Students of R. Akiva Die in a 2nd Century Epidemic?
by R. Dr. Basil Herring They said “R. Akiva had twelve thousand pairs of disciples who were located all the way from Gevat (near Beersheva in the south of Judea) till Antiparis (at its northern end) and they all died at one time because they did not act respectfully toward each other. As a result, the world was desolate (Rashi: ...
Read More »Resh Lakish’s Abiding Lesson for a Time of Pain and Suffering
by R. Basil Herring Parshas Vayikra, Adar 5780 We are all living through a very challenging and fearful time. Even those of us who are normally blessed to enjoy real Emunah and Bitachon (faith and trust in Hashem) are challenged and tested as never before. Yet it is especially in such a time there is much that we can ...
Read More »Rav Soloveitchik on the Proper Response to Resurgent Anti-Semitism
We saw the Moon in the Morning in the East, but in the Evening in the West: On the Destiny of Contemporary Jews and Judaism: Lessons from Jewish History in a Time of Crisis and Transition An early Yahrzeit Lecture by Rav Joseph D. Soloveitchik Edited by Rabbi Basil Herring Part III Responding to the Newest Resurgence of Anti-Semitism Editor’s ...
Read More »Between Evil and Hypocrisy: Passover Perspectives on the Punishments of Pharaoh
Between Evil and Hypocrisy: Passover Perspectives on the Punishments of Pharaoh A Yiddish Lecture delivered by R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik on Parshat Beshalach, 11 January 1957 Transcribed and edited by R. Basil Herring in honor of the Rav’s 25th Yahrzeit, in Nissan 5778, and in recognition of his unparalleled greatness and brilliance as a teacher of Torah to his and ...
Read More »Rav Soloveitchik on the Proper Response to Resurgent Anti-Semitism II
We saw the Moon in the Morning in the East, but in the Evening in the West: On the Destiny of Contemporary Jews and Judaism: Lessons from Jewish History in a Time of Crisis and Transition An early Yahrzeit Lecture by Rav Joseph D. Soloveitchik Edited by Rabbi Basil Herring Part III Responding to the Newest Resurgence of Anti-Semitism Part ...
Read More »Rav Soloveitchik on the Proper Response to Resurgent Anti-Semitism
We saw the Moon in the Morning in the East, but in the Evening in the West: On the Destiny of Contemporary Jews and Judaism: Lessons from Jewish History in a Time of Crisis and Transition An early Yahrzeit Lecture by Rav Joseph D. Soloveitchik Edited by Rabbi Basil Herring Part III Responding to the Newest Resurgence of Anti-Semitism Part ...
Read More »On Regret, Annulment, and the Essence of Teshuvah
Va-Yechal Moshe: On Regret, Annulment, and the Essence of Teshuvah Part of a Shiur by Ha-Rav Joseph Dov Soloveitchik Congregation Moriah, New York, NY, Dec 1st 1956 Edited by Rabbi Basil Herring, Ph.d Editor’s Note: What follows here is not a verbatim transcription, but a summary of the main ideas of the Rav in this lecture. The material constitutes the ...
Read More »Lessons from Jewish History in a Time of Crisis and Transition
We saw the Moon in the Morning in the East, but in the Evening in the West: On the Destiny of Contemporary Jews and Judaism: Lessons from Jewish History in a Time of Crisis and Transition An early Yahrzeit Lecture by Rav Joseph D. Soloveitchik Edited by Rabbi Basil Herring Part II Rising Anti-Semitism: How and Why the Modern ...
Read More »On the Untimely Death of the Young
by R. Basil Herring How is the death of the young different from the death of the elderly? ….. R. Yosi b. Chalafta and his students would rise up early to study Torah together under a certain fig tree. When the owner of the tree made a point to harvest its figs before they arrived the next time, they were ...
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