Festival of Freedom: Essays on Pesah And the Haggadah

by Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Reuven Ziegler

Festival of Freedom, the sixth volume in the series MeOtzar HoRav, consists of ten essays on Passover and the Haggadah drawn from the treasure trove left by the late Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, widely known as the Rav. For Rabbi Soloveitchik, the Passover Seder is not simply a formal ritual or ceremonial catechism. Rather, the Seder night is endowed with a unique and fascinating quality, exalted in its holiness and shining with a dazzling beauty. It possesses profound experiential and intellectual dimensions, both of them woven into the fabric of halakhic performance. Its central mitzvah, recounting the exodus, is extraordinarily multifaceted, entailing study and teaching, storytelling and symbolic performance, thanksgiving and praise. In these essays, the Rav explains how the resonances of the Seder extend far beyond the confines of one night. As he sets forth, the Seder teaches us about the Jewish approach to the meal, Torah study, peoplehood, and the nature of freedom. Yetzi at Mitzrayim is not just the story of an event lying in the distant past. It is the doctrine of the Jewish people, the philosophy of our history.

Genres: Judaism, Jewish

205 pages, Hardcover

First published May 15, 2006

About the author

Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik (1903-1993)

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik was born into a family already known for its great Torah learning. His grandfather and father, emphasized a thorough analysis of Talmud, and it is in this way that Rav Soloveitchik studied and taught his own students. He was awarded a Ph.D. from the University of Berlin, and then settled in Boston in the early 1930’s. He became Rosh HaYeshiva of Yeshiva University, and gave weekly shiurim to senior students, while delivering philosophy lectures to graduate students. His accomplishments in both Halachic study and secular study made him a unique Torah personality to Torah scholars all over.

His limitless expertise in and appreciation of secular disciplines never lessened his total devotion to Torah study. Indeed Torah study was the central focus of his life and his teachings. His public historic shiurim in memory of his great father, Rav Moshe Soloveitchik, and his public shiurim between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur organized by the Rabbinical Council of America known as Kinus T’Shuva, were attended by thousands of Torah students from all groupings in the Torah community. Thus he was one of the leaders of the generation.

He never engaged in pejorative or invectives when speaking of non-orthodox Jews. He was polite and respectful to others. Yet he was firm and inflexible in protecting and advocating the Mesorah of Torah tradition. His ruling, written by him, that one is not allowed to pray in a house of worship that violates Halachic standards even if it would result in not fulfilling the Mitzvah of Tekiath Shofar is an illustration of his strong stand on Torah and Mesorah.

This can also be seen from his opinion that while dialogue with non-Jewish faiths may be necessary, it may not deal with theological topics. This was a historic principle which guided his disciples in all their dealings with non-Jewish clergy, and continues to this very day.

His teachings and shiurim are responsible for literally thousands of men and women in the educational and academic community today.

F.S.

Reviews

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some essay are more interesting than others. But the great ones are superb.

[שירה אסתר חופש יהודי · Rating 4 out of 5]

It should be impossible to make 10 essays all be this interesting

[Jeffrey (Akiva) Savett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here, the Rav elucidates many topics associated with Pesach. Though I disagree with much of Soloveitchik's theology, his insights into freedom and slavery, time, eating, and the intricacies of Jewish life are brilliant and helpful.

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rav Soloveitchik, known to many as the Rav, really hits it out of the park with this one. These are essays on Pesach and the haggada and they're really fricking good. I spent most of my sedarim engrossed in this book. The Rav is one of the reasons I still cling to Orthodox Judaism. His understanding of the world, Judaism, Torah, and life in general, is just astounding. All his writings have such wisdom in them. I don't necessarily agree with everything he says, but he provides such good arguments and really presents a Judaism I want to desperately cleave to.