Presence

I've read a few good articles recently. As much for my own organization as to share them with you, here they are:

[One note: It is strictly a coincidence that all these articles are authored by persons with the last name Soloveitchik. Coincidence, but telling.]

Redemption and the Power of Man: Judaism and Christianity differ on man's moral capacity, by Meir Soloveitchik

This article describes the essential differences between Judaism and Chrisitianity. The distinction is more than the simple "Christians do, Jews don't" approach to accepting Jesus' messianic status; the two faiths differ profoundly on man's ability to improve and redeem the world. The article posits that the Jews in the time of the beginnings of Christianity were not only unwilling to accept Jesus because of the associated theological issues, but also due to the major differences in the conceptualization of man's moral role. The article also has some good thoughts about the idealism engendered by the Jewish outlook, which helps to explain Jews predisposition to utopian and idealistic movements (liberalism, socialism, etc.). I'm sure the argument could be applied to Hollywood as well.

Rupture and Reconstruction: The Transformation of Contemporary Orthodoxy, by Dr. Haym Soloveitchik

This paper dissects the current religious climate in Orthodox Judaism, explaining the shifts in practice to the transfer from a tradition-based religion to a text-based religion. We have abandoned our traditional heritage-based approach to transmission of knowledge, and adopted a text-based one. This has had ramifications across all strata of Jewish life, from the shift in focus from the home and synagouge to the Yeshiva to the preponderance of stringency that is so common today. This paper is worth a re-reading, it has much to teach us about our current situation.

Confrontation, by Rav Joseph Dov Soloveitchik

Just as the author of the first article is a descedant of the author of this article (sort of), so too the first article is a child of this one. Confrontation is the Rav's description of the basic categories of man vis-a-vis the universe. Does man succumb and assimilate himself into the natural order, or use his intellect to improve and recreate it anew? The latter half contains his famous "p'sak" regarding interfaith dialogue. I haven't read the whole article yet, so I can't comment on whether or not it appears YU overstepped its bounds with the recent clergy visit.

All excellent, must-read articles. Thanks to Tradition and Azure for allowing these papers to be distributed online. Share the love.