Dr. Itzhak David Goldberg

Thirsty souls

This thirst is not intellectual curiosity but existential longing-a hunger that only communion with G-d can satisfy. Opinion.

Two years later:

The bell no longer tolls

The bell has fallen silent, absorbed into the undulation of the sirens. Perhaps there is no one left to listen. But the Rav said: "The Jew is obligated to inform the world that his blood is not cheap. Vengeance for its own sake is forbidden, but when it comes for the sake of deterrence and self-defense, it is the elementary right of man." Opinion.

'Lomir zich iberbeten'-

'Let us be reconciled, our Heavenly Father'

Reliving he moment when Rav Soloveitchik's face became a living commentary on the verse his son was chanting, and a living embodiment of a plea to Hashem sung by legendary Cantor Yossele Rosenblatt.

In the shadow of loss

The spectre of churban continues to haunt the land.

For his 32nd yahrzeit, 18 Nissan:

Rabbi J.B. Soloveitchik, the Zionist ethos and Jewish unity

“We are confronted with a singular phenomenon. The Almighty has paved the way for the return to Zion through people who have cast off the yoke of Torah and mitzvot. Can we possibly deny that their accomplishments in rebuilding the land," - Rav Soloveitchik zts"l.

'As long as the candle burns...'

There are compelling parallels between the 1948 knocks as expounded by Rabbi J.B. Soloveitchik and the 2023-4 post Oct 7th events.

Friendly fire

There is more than one kind of friendly fire, sometimes it refers to a bullet shot in error, sometimes it describes the conflagration caused by baseless internal hatred.

“Let him sit alone and keep silence”

I had a sister. Her grave will never be identified and she had no name. In memoriam.

For whom the bell tolls

'No man is an island,' said John Donne, and 'send not to know for whom the bell tolls,' but Is the bell tolling for Western civilization? Opinion.

Menashe, A paratrooper in the Yom Kippur War

Many of us lost dear friends and relatives in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Memorial to a friend.

Walking with the Rav: In memory of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik

To recognize a person means to affirm that he is irreplaceable. To hurt a person means to tell him that he is expendable, that there is no n

ID Number 84803

Rabbi J.B. Soloveitchik stressed that the Holocaust should be remembered on Tisha B'Av. A letter to Ela Goldberg, ID Number 84803.

A walk with Rav Soloveitchik: In memoriam, for his yahrzeit

A highlight on Shabbat was accompanying the Rav on his walk to and from the Maimonides School Synagogue. (Video: The Rav on Rav Kook.)

On creativity, plasticity and repentance

A central theme in the Rav’s weltanschauung is his emphasis on halakhic man’s creative gesture..

Remembering Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik on his yahrzeit

To the generation that did not know the Rav, a story of two vastly different students that shines a light on his teaching.