Remembering on his 30th Yahrzeit THE RAV zt”l

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, outstanding rabbinic leader of the last century, served as an inspiring teacher for generations of students, as well as a venerated mentor for generations of leaders in the Jewish world. Reverently known as the “Rav,” with dazzling brilliance and profound wisdom, he revealed new layers of clarity and understanding in every realm of Jewish learning and experience which he addressed, ranging from halacha, Talmud, Tanach, Midrash and Jewish philosophy to interpersonal and family relations and communal concerns.

Scion of an illustrious European rabbinic family, the Rav came from a tradition infused with Torah scholarship, piety, intellectual depth, and dedication to mesorah, conveying the message of Torah from one generation to the next. The Rav embodied this tradition with nobility, and with his extraordinary talents was able to relate those traditions to the American scene in a unique manner.

In this excerpt from The Seder Night: An Exalted Evening, The Rav captures the essence of the Haggadah and the Seder:

“Vehiggadta l’vincha, and you shall tell your child,” is haggadat edut, a formal act of testimony by an eyewitness who testifies before beit din about an event he personally witnessed. Hence, we use the term Haggadah

The halacha requires that in each generation a person is obligated to view himself as if he himself left Egypt. It is the overpowering experience of the Exodus that compels one to act in a way that testifies to his great fortune and joy, and to demonstrate, without restraint, his happiness and enthusiasm. He becomes a witness to the Exodus; the events that did not occur to another, but to himself. The entire Haggadah becomes eyewitness testimony.