Lecture 1: Brisk and Berlin Joseph Dov (Ber) Soloveitchik was born in Pruzhan, Poland. His father was R' Moshe Soloveitchik, his grandfather R' Chaim Brisker, his great-grandfather R' Joseph Ber (the Beit haLevy), his great-great-grandfather the Netziv. At 8 years, his cheder teacher was an inspiring Lubavitcher. His mother thought he wasn't doing well in cheder, so his grandfather R' Chaim tested him. Joseph didn't know Bava Metzia, but could recite the Tanya by heart. R' Chaim was upset and wanted to dismiss the teacher, and got R' Moshe to teach his son himself. In a speech to the YU Rabbinic Alumni in 1955, the Rav confessed that that exposure to Tanya opened him up to philosophy, theology, eschatology, etc. It had changed his life. With R' Moshe, he learned most of the Shas, including the lesser-known sections in Zeraim, Tohorot and Kodashim, with the Brisker Method. What is the Brisker Method? One should apply philosophical terminology to the Talmud. For example, R' Chaim was asked if someone could be paid to put on tefillin for pay, and was later asked if someone else could take Terumah for one. His response was succinct: Chovat gavra, chovat cheftzah. In other words, for Tefillin, no, one couldn't pay someone else to do it, since it's a mitzvah that is done on one's own person. For Terumah, yes, one could have someone else separate it out, since that is done on the property that belongs to someone, and doesn't depend on his physical person. His mother was well educated. She imparted a great love of and understanding for literature, from fairy tales to Russian literature, such as Tolstoy, to Yiddish literature. With the help of private tutoring, Joseph Dov attained the equivalent of a Gymnasium education, and went to the University of Berlin. This was something of a revolutionary act. His mother probably approved, his father, well, might not have disapproved as much as one might think. After all, R' Moshe's father and grandfather were staunch anti-Zionists, but he was a Mizrachi-ite, so he might have understood his son's need to rebel. The Rav and his colleagues at Berlin dressed in modern style, short jackets, no yarmulkes, clean shaven, etc. His contemporary, R' Menachem Mendel Schneerson, attended Berlin wearing a bekeshe, beard and big yarmulke. They were also contemporary with Nechama Leibowitz, whom the Rav thought of as the greatest Polish professor bar none. (i.e., not just greatest woman professor). Reb Chaim Heller and the Rav: Reb Chaim was not a teacher to the young Rav Soloveitchik, but something else. R' Chaim merged Eastern Europe with the Enlightenment, through being a Torah giant. He founded the Bet Medrash Elyon, where the idea was to mix Torah with scientific knowledge. Unfortunately, this was not successful, as the sort of people he was looking for had to be R' Chaim Hellers themselves, and there just weren't many people of his caliber. R' Heller became a father figure to Rav Soloveitchik in Berlin. He was a connection to the Rav's roots. The Rav's uncle combined traditional Rambam study with Wissen- schaft des Judentums. The uncle, Menachem Krakowski, author of "Avodat Hamelech", a book in this paradigm on the Rambam, had the young Joseph Dov cross-check rare manuscripts in Berlin on four occasions for this book. He seemed quite proud of having been able to help his uncle, from a conversation in 1983. This, among other things, indicates the Rav's positive attitude towards scholarship in the scientific study of Judaism, if done thoroughly and properly. He also approved of the critical edition of Baalei Tosafot. On the other hand, on some occasion in the 1970's he wanted to look something up in the Mishneh Torah. When someone handed him a copy of the new Frankel edition, he said, "No, no, I want a *real* Rambam." He was used to the edition he had used while growing up. Now we come to Tonya Lewitt, his beloved wife. That's Tonya, not Tanya: it's a Russian name. They met on a trolley car in Berlin, Joseph noticing her standing up, reading a book of Yiddish fiction. He was interested - who would be reading Yiddish on a Berlin trolley? She earned her PhD in Berlin as well as he. She had a good personality without relation to her husband, and passed that on to her daughters. Her most important influence, though, was in helping the Rav relate to the normal world. A story: Rabbi Rakeffet (at the time Arthur Rothkoff) was an undergraduate at YU in 1957. He and his friends were clamoring for the Rav to teach them as undergraduates: he had only been teaching the rabbinical students until then. Finally the Rav agreed. On the first day of class, he marched in, and started tearing the students apart. They were all scared. He starts firing questions at them. The first student mumbled something, and didn't know. So the Rav wrote his name on the board, and next to it "lo yada" (doesn't know). The next says he knows the answer, but it turns out he doesn't, so the Rave writes his name down, with the comment "shakran" (liar). Arthur went to the Rebbetzin and told her what was happening. She didn't say much about it. The next week, he comes in, complains at the students, "You're all such a bunch of crybabies!" But he didn't write the insults any more. The Rebbetzin was truly a part of him, his real higher authority...