Rabbi Dr.
Haym Soloveitchik (b. September 19, 1937) is the only son of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. He graduated from the
Maimonides SchoolMaimonides School is a coeducational, Modern Orthodox, Jewish day school located in Brookline, Massachusetts. The school was founded in 1937 by Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik and is named after Rabbi Moses Maimonides....
which his father founded in
Brookline, MassachusettsBrookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2000 census, the population of the town was 57,107.-Etymology:...
and then received his
B.A.Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences or both....
degree from
Harvard CollegeHarvard College is one of two undergraduate degree granting schools, and the oldest school, of Harvard University, a private university in the United States founded in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature...
in 1958 with a major in
HistoryHistory is the study of the human past, with special attention to the written record. Scholars who write about history are called historians. It is a field of research which uses a narrative to examine and analyse the sequence of events, and it often attempts to investigate objectively the patterns...
. After two years of post-graduate study at Harvard, he moved to
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
and began his studies toward an
M.A.A Master of Arts is a postgraduate academic master degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in English, Fine Arts, History, Nursing, Humanities, Geography, Philosophy, Social Sciences or Theology and can be either fully-taught, research-based, or a...
and
PhDDoctor of Philosophy, abbreviated PhD , for the Latin , meaning "teacher of philosophy", or alternatively, DPhil, for the equivalent , is an advanced academic degree awarded by universities...
at the Hebrew University in
JerusalemJerusalem is the capital of Israel and its largest city in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if disputed East Jerusalem is included...
, under the historian Professor
Jacob KatzJacob Katz was a Jewish historian and educator...
.
Rabbi Dr.
Haym Soloveitchik (b. September 19, 1937) is the only son of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. He graduated from the
Maimonides SchoolMaimonides School is a coeducational, Modern Orthodox, Jewish day school located in Brookline, Massachusetts. The school was founded in 1937 by Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik and is named after Rabbi Moses Maimonides....
which his father founded in
Brookline, MassachusettsBrookline is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States, which borders on the cities of Boston and Newton. As of the 2000 census, the population of the town was 57,107.-Etymology:...
and then received his
B.A.Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences or both....
degree from
Harvard CollegeHarvard College is one of two undergraduate degree granting schools, and the oldest school, of Harvard University, a private university in the United States founded in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature...
in 1958 with a major in
HistoryHistory is the study of the human past, with special attention to the written record. Scholars who write about history are called historians. It is a field of research which uses a narrative to examine and analyse the sequence of events, and it often attempts to investigate objectively the patterns...
. After two years of post-graduate study at Harvard, he moved to
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
and began his studies toward an
M.A.A Master of Arts is a postgraduate academic master degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in English, Fine Arts, History, Nursing, Humanities, Geography, Philosophy, Social Sciences or Theology and can be either fully-taught, research-based, or a...
and
PhDDoctor of Philosophy, abbreviated PhD , for the Latin , meaning "teacher of philosophy", or alternatively, DPhil, for the equivalent , is an advanced academic degree awarded by universities...
at the Hebrew University in
JerusalemJerusalem is the capital of Israel and its largest city in both population and area, with a population of 747,600 residents over an area of if disputed East Jerusalem is included...
, under the historian Professor
Jacob KatzJacob Katz was a Jewish historian and educator...
. He wrote his Master's thesis on the
HalakhaHalakha — also transliterated Halocho and Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
of gentile wine in medieval
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
. His doctorate, which he received in 1972, concentrated on laws of pawnbroking and
usuryUsury originally meant the charging of interest on loans. This would have included charging a fee for the use of money, such as at a bureau de change. After countries legislated to limit the rate of interest on loans, usury came to mean the interest above the lawful rate...
.
Teaching
Soloveitchik taught at Hebrew University until 1984, and reached the rank of full Professor. During that period, he also taught at and served as Dean of the Bernard Revel Graduate School of
Yeshiva UniversityYeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is classified as a very high research activity university and it ranked as 50th in the US among national universities by U.S...
and served as a
Rosh YeshivaRosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...
(dean) at its affiliate, the
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological SeminaryRabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary , or Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan, is the rabbinical seminary of Yeshiva University, located in Washington Heights, New York...
. In the early 1980's, he left Hebrew University and began teaching at Yeshiva University on a full-time basis, serving as University Professor. He taught there until 2006, when he was appointed University Research Professor.
Known as a very demanding teacher, Soloveitchik has had relatively few personal students. Two scholars are seen as being among his leading students.
Rabbi Michael RosensweigMichael Rosensweig is an Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva at Yeshiva University.-Education:Rosensweig attended Yeshiva University, where he was a student of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. He graduated from Yeshiva College in 1980, going on to receive semicha from YU's Rabbi Isaac Elchanan...
, is a
Rosh YeshivaRosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...
at
Yeshiva UniversityYeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is classified as a very high research activity university and it ranked as 50th in the US among national universities by U.S...
, and Edward Fram, teaches in the
Jewish HistoryJewish history is the history of the Jewish people, faith, and culture. Since Jewish history encompasses nearly six thousand years and hundreds of different populations, any treatment can only be provided in broad strokes...
Department at Ben Gurion University.
Scholarship
Haym Soloveitchik is acknowledged as a leading contemporary
historianAn historian is an individual who studies and writes about history, and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all events in time...
of
HalakhaHalakha — also transliterated Halocho and Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish religious law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions....
, the collective body of Jewish religious law. Much of his work focuses on the interaction of Halakha with changing economic realities. Specifically, he has produced major studies of usury and pawnbroking and the multiple ramifications of Jewish involvement in the manufacture and sale of wine. A major theme of his writing is the positing of an essential integrity to the Jewish Legal process in its interaction with contemporary challenges. In addition, his oft-cited essay 'Rupture and Reconstruction,' is viewed as a major statement on the state of contemporary
Orthodox JudaismOrthodox Judaism is a formulation of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmudic texts and as subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and Acharonim.Orthodox...
.
Published works
Books:
Halakha, Economy and Self-Image, Jerusalem 1985.
Responsa as an Historical Source, Jerusalem 1990.
Principles and Pressures: Jewish Trade in Gentile Wine in the Middle Ages. Am Oved (Tel Aviv, 2003).
Articles:
'Pawnbroking: A Study in "Ribbit" and of the Halakah in Exile,' PAAJR 38-39(1970-1971)203-268.
'Three Themes in Sefer Hassidim,' AJS Review 1 (1976), 311-358
'Can Halakhic Texts Talk History?" AJS Review 3 (1978), pp. 153-196
'Maimonides’"’Iggeret Ha-Shemad" - Law and Rhetoric,'Rabbi Joseph H. Lookstein Memorial Volume, New York 1980, 281-319.
'Rabad of Posquières: A Programmatic Essay,' Studies in the History of Jewish Society Presented to Jacob Katz, Jerusalem 1980, vii-xl.
'Religious Law and Change: The Medieval Ashkenazic Example,' AJS Review 12(1987), 205-221.
'History of Halakhah - Methodological Issues: A Review Essay of I. Twersky’s "Rabad of Posquières,"' Jewish History 5(1991), 75-124.
'Rupture and Reconstruction:The Transformation of Contemporary Orthodoxy,' Tradition, 28(1994, 64-130.
'Catastrophe and Halakhic Creativity: Ashkenaz - 1096, 1242, 1306 and 1298,' Jewish History 12(1998), 71-85.
'[On] Yishaq (Eric) Zimmer, "Olam ke-Minhago Noheg"'AJS Review 23(1998), 223-234.
'Rupture and Reconstruction: The Transformation of Contemporary Orthodoxy,'Tradition, 28(1994) 64-130.
'Responsa: Literary History and Basic Literacy,'AJS Review, 24(1999),343-357.
'Piety, Pietism and German Pietism : "Sefer Hasidim I" and the influence of "Hasidei Ashkenaz,"
Jewish Quarterly Review 92(2002), 455-493.
'Halakhah, Hermeneutics, and Martyrdom in Medieval Ashkenaz,' Jewish Quarterly Review 94,1 (2004) 77-108; 2: 278-299.
'The Midrash, "Sefer Hasidim" and the Changing Face of God,' Creation and Re-Creation in Jewish Thought, New York 2005, 165-177.
External links