Rabbi Soloveitchik: Dr. Atarah Twersky daughter of Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik passes away at 90

Saturday, March 18, 2023

Dr. Atarah Twersky daughter of Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik passes away at 90

The Rav's daughter Atarah passed away recently. I met her in Boston and corresponded with her a bit. She was very gracious to me. I was very impressed by her. She was a very intelligent and unpretentious woman. Article from Arutz Sheva:

Dr. Atarah Twersky daughter of Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik passes away at 90 | ערוץ 7 (israelnationalnews.com)

Dr. Atarah Twersky, the widow of Professor Isadore Twersky, daughter of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, passed away on Friday afternoon at 90.

Dr. Twersky was the sister of Dr. Tovah Lichtenstein, YU Professor of Jewish History Dr. Haym Soloveitchik, and mother of RIETS (Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary) Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Mayer Twersky, Tzipporah Rosenblatt, and Rabbi Moshe Twersky, who was murdered in his synagogue in Jerusalem by a Palestinian terrorist in 2014.

The funeral in the US will take place on Saturday evening at 8:15 PM at JFK Airport: EL AL Cargo,123 North Hangar Road Jamaica, New York.

The funeral in Israel will take place Sunday at the Jerusalem Municipal Funeral Parlor (Shamgar) 2 hours after the arrival of LY 008, scheduled to arrive at 5:10 PM.

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Our interest in humanity

"There are religiously committed Jews who are indifferent to the concerns of the larger non-Jewish society. They are content to reside in isolated communities with unconcern, if not actual disdain, for the Gentile world and for the problems which afflict humanity. This introversion can be explained as a reaction to the centuries-old derision and persecution which have been the Jewish historical experience and to which they were subjected with particular ferocity in modern times. Nowadays, there are particular aspects of moral perversion afflicting the general society which are repellant to Jewish sensibilities. Nevertheless, this insularity cannot be vindicated as authentic Judaism even if it can be understood and justified in particular historical periods and situations." Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, Man of Faith in the Modern World, p. 73.

The Beauty of Religion

The error of modern representatives of religion is that they promise their congregants the solution to all the problems of life − an expectation which religion does not fulfill. Religion, on the contrary, deepens the problems but never intends to solve them. The grandeur of religion lies in its mysterium tremendum its magnitude and its ultimate incomprehensibility. To cite one example, we may adduce the problem of theodicy, the justification of evil in the world, that has tantalized the inquiring mind from time immemorial till this last tragic decade. The acuteness of this problem has grown for the religious person in essence and dimensions. When a minister, rabbi, or priest attempts to solve the ancient question of Job's suffering through as sermon or lecture, he does not promote religious ends, but, on the contrary, does them a disservice. The beauty of religion with its grandiose vistas reveals itself to men, not in solutions but in problems, not in harmony but in the constant conflict of diversified forces and trends.

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, "Sacred and Profane", Gesher, Vol. 3, No. 1, p. 7 in Besdin, A, Reflections of the Rav, p. 224)

Ethical Values

…the religious person is given not only a duty to follow the halakha but also a value and vision. The person performing the duty seeks to realize this ideal or vision. Kant felt that the duty of consciousness expresses only a "must" without a value. He demanded a routine form of compliance, an "ought" without aiming at a value. As a soldier carries out his duty to the commanding officer, one may appreciate his service or just obey through discipline and orders. Kant's ethics are a "formal ethics", the goal is not important. For us it would be impossible to behave this way. An intelligent person must find comfort, warmth, and a sense of fulfillment in the law. We deal with ethical values, not ethical formalisms. A sense of pleasure must be gained by fulfilling a norm. The ethical act must have an end and purpose. We must become holy.

Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Mesorat HaRav Siddur, p. 112-3

Saturday, March 18, 2023

Dr. Atarah Twersky daughter of Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik passes away at 90

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