Mentor of Generations: Reflections on Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik

Collecting over 55 essays by his students and those close to him, Mentor of Generations: Reflections on Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik offers readers anecdotes and insights about one of the most outstanding Jewish leaders of the twentieth century. Rabbi Soloveitchik, remembered fondly by those close to him as the Rav, inspired the growth of an Orthodox Jewish community in Boston, ordained thousands of rabbis at Yeshiva University s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary in New York and participated in many organizations aimed to further Orthodox Judaism in America and Israel. This volume pays tribute to his accomplishments while at the same time shares untold stories and perspectives critical to the yet unwritten definitive biography of the Rav. The many contributors within the pages of Mentor of Generations shed light onto over six decades (1930s through 1980s) of the panoramic life of the Rav. This volume probes the humanity of one of the most revered scholars and leaders of the past generation.

Rabbi Soloveitchik zt l (1903-1993) was not only one of the outstanding talmudists of the twentieth century, but also one of its most creative and seminal Jewish thinkers. Drawing from a vast reservoir of Jewish and general knowledge, the Rav, as he is widely known, brought Jewish thought and law to bear on the interpretation and assessment of the modern experience. For over four decades, Rabbi Soloveitchik commuted weekly from his home in Brookline, Massachusetts to New York City, where he gave the senior sh iur (class in Talmud) at Yeshiva University s affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), where he taught and inspired generations of students, among them many of the future leaders of all areas of Jewish communal life. By his extensive personal teaching and influence, he contributed vitally to the dynamic resurgence of Orthodox Judaism in America.