Part Seven of a series: English translations of Rav Yitzchok Hutner's books and thought systems
Part one deals with the contributions of Rabbi Pinchas Stolper (1931–2022) in interpreting and translating the works of Rav Yitzchok Hutner (1906–1980) into English. Part two deals with the contributions of Rabbi Yitzchok Alster (b. 1935) in interpreting and quoting the works of Rav Hutner into English. Part three deals with the translation of some of Rav Hutner's works by Rabbi Eliakim Willner and of his biography into English by Rabbi Shmuel Kirzner. Part four deals with the reasons Rav Hutner's books were not translated into English during his lifetime and following his passing. Part five is a lecture on Jewish Education translated into English during Rav Hutner's lifetime. Part six is a lecture about the Holocaust translated into English during Rav Hutner's lifetime.
Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner: The Master Rosh Yeshiva as Revealed in His Writings — On the Occasion of His First Yahrtzeit 20 KIslev.
By the Writing Desk of the Master: Reflections on Pachad Yitzchok: Igaros Ukesavim [Letters and Writings] by [Rabbi Dr.] Yisroel Mayer Kirzner (Published in The Jewish Observer magazine of Agudath Israel of America. Rabbi Nisson Wolpin, Editor. December, 1981)
Bio in the original: Rabbi Dr. Israel Meir (Yisroel Mayer) Kirzner (b. 1930) is one of the closest disciples of Rav Yitzchok Hutner (1906–1980). He is a prodigious Talmudic scholar and serves as the rabbi of the congregation once headed by his father in Brooklyn, New York. He studied in Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin for many years during the same time that he obtained his academic training. He is an authority on Rav Hutner's writings and is one of the few official editors of all sources that Rav Hutner quotes. He is emeritus professor of economics at New York University and a leading authority on Ludwig von Mises's (1881–1973) thinking and methodology in economics, closely identified with the Austrian School. His research on entrepreneurship economics is widely recognized. His work integrating entrepreneurial action into neoclassical economics has been more widely accepted than nearly any other Austrian idea of the late twentieth century. The Liberty Fund published his Collected Works in ten volumes. (Wikipedia)
The summary below is from the original article in English:
1) Unsystematic Reflections: The publication of this volume of letters and other shorter writings of the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin Rav Yitzchok Hutner has aroused an unusual degree of interest in the Torah world. What follows are no more than some unsystematic reflections induced by a first study of this volume. The flood of memories, hopes, dreams, regrets and resolutions, evoked by this first study will certainly never again be replicated.
2) "Sharp Blade ... Charming Poetry": This volume consists of 264 letters and other writings. The first section deals with Hilchos De'os Vechovos Halevavos ("duties of the heart and mind" lit:"Laws of Ideas and Obligations of the Heart/s"). A second section consists of longer pieces that had already appeared in print elsewhere. A third section is comprised of letters providing encouragement, advice, or reproof to Talmidim (students/disciples) or others. The fourth and fifth sections consist of letters of personal or private character.
A striking feature of this volume is undoubtedly its unique writing style. In one letter, number 211, the Rosh Yeshiva Rav Hutner expresses his admiration for his correspondent's ability to display simultaneously both the keenness of a sharp blade and the sweetness of charming poetry. This same combination is evident on every page of this volume; incisiveness and clarity clothed in an exquisite poetic prose.
No one who has been exposed to this treasury, studded with gems culled and interpreted from the greatest figures of all time, especially the RAMBAN [Nachmanides 1194–1270] and Rabbeinu Yonah [d. 1264], the MAHARAL [of Prague 1512–1609] and the Vilna Gaon [1720–1797], can fail to have glimpsed at least something of the grandeur of the perspective that the Rosh Yeshiva Rav Hutner brought to his Hilchos De'os Vechovos Halevavos.
3) The Uniqueness of This Perspective: It is not easy to identify the uniqueness of this perspective. Undoubtedly the qualities that distinguish this perspective for one student may be different from those that are seen as distinctive by a second student. The very comprehension of the narrative by listeners or readers calls for considerable familiarity with the issues being discussed. To those unaware of all these matters, the most competent narrative itself must appear puzzling and pointless. For these readers, the scholar who can clarify the true import of the narrative, rendering what appeared puzzling and pointless immediately illuminating and vitally significant, such a scholar can certainly be described as unlocking a veritable treasury.
4) An Essential Element in the Drama of Millennia: At the hands of the Rosh Yeshiva Rav Hutner each and every Maamar Chazal (discourse/s of the Jewish Sages) emerges as part of a unified account of matters and issues of awesome, cosmic significance. At this level of seriousness there are no coincidences. Each apparent detail is shown to fit as an essential element in the larger drama unfolding across the millennia. This perspective is "uplifting" in permitting us at least to glimpse the true level of the participants in this drama as described in Midrashei Chazal (Midrashic teachings of the Jewish Sages). It is "uplifting" in permitting us to recognize something of the stature of the historians of the drama, our sages, Chazal. It is "uplifting" in forcing us to recognize that the drama is as yet unfinished, that we too, even in our own pitiful spiritual poverty, so far removed from the stature of earlier generations, have a part to play that fits directly into the larger drama.
5) New Material on "Maamorim" ["Discourses"]: The volume contains invaluable new material to add to the already published series of Sifrei [Books of] Pachad Yitzchok by Rav Hutner. Many letters address specific difficulties that questioners had raised concerning Rav Hutner's Ma'amorim (Discourses). These letters represent important footnotes to these Ma'amorim and often include fresh insights not made explicit in the Ma'amorim as originally presented, and substantial material in Hilchos Dei'os Vechovos Halevavos not available elsewhere.
Among the themes which held perhaps the greatest impact for this writer (i.e. for Rabbi Yisroel Mayer Kirzner) might be included: (a) The treatment in letter 30 of the meaning of disputes between the scholars of the Talmud. (b) The discussions in letters 54, 80, 85, 86, of the significance of the history of Knesses Yisroel (Gathering/People of Israel) and the transcendent character of this history as the manifestation of the Divine Will and of the Divine Will of the Torah itself. (c) The concise clarification, in letter 54, of the role and purpose of the Maamorim and the manner in which they relate to the cultivation of Yiras Shomayim (fear of God). (d) The elucidation, in letter 51, of the RAMBAM's (Maimonides, 1138–1204) view in regard to Techias Hameisim (resurrection of the dead).
6) Rekindling Our Memories: In addition to the wealth of Divrei [words of] Torah, this volume offers two distinct opportunities: (a) The opportunity to relive, to recall, to rekindle, to revive the memories of years during which one was warmed by the Rosh Yeshiva's Rav Hutner's teachings, by his words of encouragement and reproof, by the vitality and Simcha (joy/happiness) of his presence. (b) The opportunity to learn more than we we ever did about our beloved Rosh Yeshiva Rav Hutner; to be admitted to sit by him, as it were, at his writing desk and to observe him over a period of well over half a century, from a tender age as a Yeshiva Bochur (young student) in the Slabodka Yeshiva, until his very last years as one of the acknowledged contemporary Gedolei Yisroel (Torah giants of the Jewish People).
These letters bring to mind the Rosh Yeshiva Rav Hutner as a rock to which his Talmidim {students/disciples) turned with complete assurance in the midst of a seething ocean of conflicts, problems, and doubts. In letter 101 we relive the unique Simcha (joy/happiness) and inspiration of a Mesibas (celebration of) Sukkos with the Rosh Yeshiva Rav Hutner. Letter 94 recalls the perspective from which he permitted or encouraged some of his Talmidim (students/disciples) to undertake careers for their Parnasa (livelihood). In letter 128 we appreciate the passion, wisdom and sensitivity that the Rosh Yeshiva Rav Hutner employed in spurring a faltering young student encountering obstacles on his way towards Gadlus (greatness).
7) "Scaling the Peaks of His Greatness": It is doubtful whether anyone, even those who were fortunate enough to maintain the closest of contact with the Rosh Yeshiva Rav Hutner, would be prepared to claim such complete understanding of him as a genuine Gadol (one great in Torah). The heights scaled by the Rosh Yeshiva Rav Hutner were, we all knew, shrouded from us by a mist of Yiras Hakavod (fear of his honor/respect) at the very time that he both radiated and inspired Ahava (love) without bounds.
8) Distaste for Public Position: In letter 186 the Rosh Yeshiva Rav Hutner expresses a deep distaste for having to fill any public, official position other than the work of spreading Torah. Only after repeated attempts to avoid such public visibility did he conclude that contemporary circumstances make this an impossibility. Consistent with this he guarded his privacy with tenacity. In letter 198 he writes that "I guard my privacy as I would a treasure precious beyond all measure."
There were two things that the Rosh Yeshiva Rav Hutner abhorred absolutely: (a) The deployment of the modern tools of propaganda. He saw propaganda as both antithetical to and unnecessary for the spread of Torah, see letter 85; and (b) Engaging in the slightest forms of Chanifa (flattery). His abhorrence of Chanifa is given expression in letter 188. Together, these passionately held beliefs and safeguards protected his cherished privacy.
9) "The Veil is Maintained": This volume, while revealing more than many perhaps knew, never tears aside the veil of privacy that the Rosh Yeshiva Rav Hutner was so concerned to maintain. In the end, the privacy of the Rosh Yeshiva Rav Hutner is left uncompromised. The Kavod (honor) of Chakor Davar (investigative search) is overwhelmed by the Kavod (honor) of Hester Davar (seclusion/hidden). A theme repeated in this volume, letters 87 and 180, is the lesson drawn from Chazal (the Jewish Sages) that the Torah expounded by a Gadol (a person great in Torah) during his lifetime acquires a new degree of permanency after his passing from the world.
For sharing these precious letters and writings with us and for the painstaking task of producing so outstanding an edition, the family of the Rosh Yeshiva Rav Hutner, namely his son in law Rav Yonosan David and Rebbetzin Bruriah David, Rav Hutner's daughter, have surely won our profound gratitude.
Rabbi Yitschak Rudomin was born to Holocaust survivor parents in Israel, grew up in South Africa, and lives in Brooklyn, NY. He is an alumnus of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin and of Teachers College–Columbia University. He heads the Jewish Professionals Institute dedicated to Jewish Adult Education and Outreach – Kiruv Rechokim. He was the Director of the Belzer Chasidim's Sinai Heritage Center of Manhattan 1988–1995, a Trustee of AJOP 1994–1997 and founder of American Friends of South African Jewish Education 1995–2015. He is also a docent and tour guide at The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in Downtown Manhattan, New York.
He is the author of The Second World War and Jewish Education in America: The Fall and Rise of Orthodoxy. Contact Rabbi Yitschak Rudomin at izakrudomin@gmail.com