Derashot Harav: Selected Lectures of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik

by Arnold Lustiger

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik ("the Rav") has left a formidable legacy of public lectures, or derashot. These discourses combined profound halakhic depth with emotional power, completely mesmerizing his audience. The Rav would weave halakhah and homiletics so compellingly that the line between them blurred and often disappeared entirely. This merging of derush and halakhah is particularly evident in those derashot that were presented in Yiddish. Unfortunately, because many young people today do not understand Yiddish,these lectures have not been accessible to them. In this volume, Dr. Lustiger has summarized, organized and annotated seven of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s most riveting derashot. He includes Biblical, Talmudic and Midrashic sources, and provides cross-references with citations from Rabbi Soloveitchik’s written works as well as historical notes that provide context to important themes in these lectures.

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003