Jacob J. Schacter on Joseph B. Soloveitchik and the State of Israel (Rebroadcast)

The Tikvah Podcast

Tikvah

Judaism, Politics, Religion & Spirituality, News

4.6 • 620 Ratings

🗓️ 31 March 2021

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week marks the yahrzeit, the annual remembrance, of the passing of one of the outstanding sages of 20th century Judaism, and perhaps the key intellectual figure of Modern Orthodoxy in America, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. This week’s podcast looks back on a speech he delivered before a rapt audience on Israel’s Independence Day in 1956, during the tense days leading up to the Suez Crisis. It was titled in Hebrew "Kol Dodi Dofek" or “Hark, My Beloved Knocks,” a line from the Song of Songs, which will be chanted in synagogues across the world this Shabbat.

A few years ago, the distinguished scholar and rabbi Jacob J. Schacter of Yeshiva University joined Mosaic editor Jonathan Silver for a discussion of Soloveitchik’s speech, which was later published as a short book entitled Fate and Destiny. In this discussion, Schacter describes the dramatic history behind Soloveitchik’s address and guides us through the “six knocks'' that to him demonstrated God’s involvement in the creation of Israel. In the process, he also discusses Soloveitchik’s attitude toward suffering, messianism, and secular Zionism.

Musical selections in this podcast are drawn from the Quintet for Clarinet and Strings, op. 31a, composed by Paul Ben-Haim and performed by the ARC Ensemble.

Transcript

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0:00.0	This week marks the Yardtseid, the annual remembrance of the passing away of one of the outstanding sages of 20th century Judaism,
0:08.7	and perhaps the key intellectual figure of modern orthodoxy in America.
0:13.4	Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, known by generations of his students reverentially, simply as the Rove.
0:21.3	Welcome to the Tikva podcast. I'm your host, Jonathan Silver.
0:25.1	Back in December 2018, I spoke with one of those reverential students, now a very
0:31.0	distinguished scholar and Jewish leader in his own right, Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Shachter,
0:36.7	of Yeshiva University. We spoke about a marvelous
0:40.0	text of Rabbi Silavichik's, first delivered as a powerful speech, then developed into a long
0:46.5	essay, and then finally published as a short book titled either Faith and Destiny or by
0:51.7	a Hebrew refrain that Rabbi Soloveitchik repeats in the text,
0:55.3	Cole, Dodi, Dofeck. On the occasion of Rabbi Soloveitchik's Yardtite this year, and to bring back
1:01.5	to your attention, one of my favorite older episodes with Rabbi Shachter, one of my favorite
1:06.7	teachers and friends, we are rebroadcasting this discussion of how Rabbi Joseph B.
1:11.6	Soloveitch thought about Judaism and Zionism. You'll hear me introduce the essay in greater detail
1:16.7	in a moment, but if you enjoy this conversation, please consider subscribing to the Tikva
1:20.8	podcast on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, and Spotify. I hope you'll leave us a five-star
1:26.4	review to help us grow this community of ideas.
1:29.6	I welcome your feedback on this or any of our other podcast episodes at podcast at ticfunds.org,
1:35.5	and if you want to learn more about our work at Tikva, you can visit our website,
1:39.4	tikfafunds.org, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.
1:42.9	Here now is my 2018 discussion with Rabbi Dr. J.J. Shachter.
1:51.9	An anxious mood cast a shadow upon the celebration of Israel's independence on Yomha Atsmaut in
	...

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