Remembering R. Aharon Lichtenstein by R
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Remembering R. Aharon Lichtenstein by R. Yaakov Bieler have been privileged to study with three great individuals, these individuals’ ongoing influence upon me. Just as we re- R. Joseph B. Soloveitchik, HaMora Nechama Leibowitz, main our parents’ children throughout our lives, whether they I and R. Aharon Lichtenstein, who continue to profoundly are with us in body or only in spirit, the same is true regarding influence my learning and thinking to this day. R. Aharon’s the profound teachers that we have had the privilege of being contributions to our collective world has been celebrated of exposed to. While I am deeply saddened by R. Aharon’s pass- late by his being given the Pras Yisrael (the Israel Prize), his ing, it is certainly my obligation as a small part of my Hakarat work being celebrated in commemorative volumes issued by HaTov (appreciation and thankfulness) for this man and what the journals Da’at and Tradition, and in a truly wonderful he represented, to take the opportunity to share some of my book written by R. Chaim Sabato, entitled Mevakshei Panecha reflections regarding his significance for me and the world I (Seeking Your Face), describing inhabit. his far-reaching conversations To study with someone who clearly was My formal ongoing contact with R. Lichtenstein about Tora, with R. Lichtenstein consisted Emuna (faith) and Hashkafa a master of Rabbinic literature as well of the year that I spent in his (weltanschauung). Even as R. as classical Western literature was very Shiur (Talmud class) during Sabato’s book mainly served meaningful to me. Reflecting on this my senior year in Yeshiva to acquaint the general Chiloni further, it occurs to me that all three of College in 1968-9 when we (Israeli secular) population with learned Masechet Kiddushin, the thinking of an amazing, so- my religious cultural heroes, the Rav, and my participation in the phisticated Zionist Rosh Yeshiva, Nechama and R. Aharon, were all Shiur that he gave at Machon it is equally inspiring for us who extremely well-read and broad-minded Gruss (a Tora institution in wish to gain insights into R. Aha- in their education and thinking. Jerusalem), while I spent a ron’s personality and religiosity. Sabbatical year in Israel during I can’t recommend it too highly. 1985-6, in which he discussed Personally, I try to acknowledge my religious and intellectual topics in Masechet Shabbat. debts to these three Gedolei Yisrael (giants of the Jewish people) Actually Joanie saw a more informal side of R. Aharon and by citing their ideas and works as frequently as I possibly can. I his family, when she was frequently a Bat Bayit (a regular am under no illusion that I come anywhere near to them with house guest) in their home in Washington Heights while she respect to erudition, experience and depth of understanding. was a student at Stern College, where Tovah Lichtenstein The metaphor that I often think about when I consider the taught. Joanie babysat the Lichtenstein children, and felt very process of the transmission of Masora (tradition) to one’s appreciated by the entire family, specifically for her having students appears in Masechet Shabbat: become religious along with her deep interest in science. Shabbat 88b Since I had only come to Tora learning relatively recently (I R. Yochanan said: “What is meant by the verse, ‘The Lord attended public schools and began Tora studies when I at- Giveth the Word: They that publish the tidings are a great tended college), I found the Gemora Shiur quite challenging, host?’ [Tehillim 68:12]: Every single Word that went forth and I am sure that the two years that I spent immediately from the Omnipotent was split up into seventy languages.” afterwards at Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh were very positively The School of R. Yishmael taught, “‘And like a hammer influenced by the experience I had the previous year in R. that breaketh the rock in pieces’[Yirmiyahu 23:29]: just Aharon’s Shiur. A certain symmetry then informed my return as a hammer’s strike [on an anvil] gives off many sparks, to his Shiur in Israel after having sat in the Rav’s Shiur for so every single Word that went forth from the Holy One, two years, gotten Semicha (ordination), and taught Gemora, Blessed Be He, split up into seventy languages.” among other Limudei Kodesh (Jewish studies) subjects, for No one can be expected to absorb and appreciate everything; twelve years in Ramaz. all that can be reasonably assumed is that each listener will Before the final exam when I was in college, R. Lichtenstein take away what he can of the gestalt being presented. would give Chazara Shiurim (review classes) which everyone As is the case for so many of my contemporaries, it is difficult would duly record on their cassette recorders. I remember for me to imagine that I would be who I am today without continued on page 10 kukt-zun, July-September 2015 9 R. Aharon, continued from page 9 how the cassettes would have to be turned over at relatively the same time and all of the machines would pop open all at once, causing the students to frantically rush to change the Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening tapes in order not to miss anything. What was truly eerie, was Whose woods these are I think I know. at night, in the dormitory, you would hear R. Aharon’s voice His house is in the village though; echoing from every nook and cranny as everyone would review He will not see me stopping here the Shiurim over and over again to try to properly understand To watch his woods fill up with snow. all that had been discussed in preparation for the formidable My little horse must think it queer exam coming up. To stop without a farmouse near Over the years, I have been very impressed by many of the Between the woods and frozen lake courageous public positions that R. Lichtenstein assumed. The darkest evening of the year. Particularly during the time he lived in Israel, R. Aharon was incredibly outspoken when it came to dealing with things that He gives his harness bells a shake To ask if there is some mistake. he considered to be inappropriate for religion to be associated The only other sound's the sweep with. Some examples: After some religious Zionist Rabbanim Of easy wind and downy flake. wrote approbations for Baruch Goldstein, an individual who went on a shooting rampage in a mosque on Purim, R. Li- The woods are lovely, dark and deep, chtenstein took very public issue with them. He also did not But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, shy away from speaking out regarding the terrible controversy And miles to go before I sleep. surrounding R. Mordechai Elon, who was accused of improper behavior with some of his students. Even his move to Israel ―—Robert Frost might have been precipitated by a controversy at Yeshiva Uni- versity over the structure of the Semicha program. A student strike (!) took place while I was studying in Israel, and I heard second-hand that R. Lichtenstein was frustrated by what he AN EXTRACT FROM A SICHA BY considered the great degree of obstinacy by certain members of the administration regarding making changes that were R. AHARON LICHTENSTEIN extremely necessary. We have become so used to expecting our religious leaders to have feet of clay. This absolutely did The first three stanzas serve as an exposition to not apply to R. Aharon. the last stanza, which presents a stark contrast to On Thursdays, R. Lichtenstein would devote the last half- what has come before. Frost outlines two conflict- hour of the Shiur to Hashkafa matters, which was particularly ing worlds, two existential systems. In Either/Or, of interest to me. I remember how he used R. Elimelech Bar Kierkegaard portrays the clashing views of “ethical Shaul’s Mitzva VeLev as the platform for his discussions, and man” and “aesthetic man.” Frost expresses this I have ever since been very taken with all of R. Bar Shaul’s conflict beautifully in his poem. “The woods are works. While at Kerem B’Yavneh I even had a Chevruta with lovely, dark and deep” emphasizes the paradoxi- R. Bar Shaul’s son-in-law, R. Binyamin Be’eri. cal beauty of the scene: it is “lovely,” the light “L” In the Gruss Shiurim as well, the first half hour was based sounds playing on our lips, but also “dark and upon RaMBaM’s introduction to the Mishna, and R. Lich- deep,” the alliterative “D” being stronger, dominant. tenstein’s erudition and religious sensitivity was as usual We learn that the narrator’s present situation is memorable and breath-taking. but one instant in a busy, bustling life. Yet here he What was even more impressive was that R. Lichtenstein pauses amidst the excitement of his life. His “stop- often incorporated ideas from literature, not in his Gemora ping by woods” reflects the extraordinary magic Shiurim, but certainly in his Hashkafa presentations. One can this natural scene exerts upon his imagination. It gain a sense of this when reading practically any of the essays is a moment of wonderment. There is something that he has written in English over the years. They are pep- in the woods’ beauty that draws him in, lures him, pered with literary references. I recall a conversation with one encouraging him to abandon his anxious self- of my faculty colleagues many years ago in which he said, “You guys”—referring to us YU Tora U’Madda (the combination of 10 Kol MevaSer, Kemp Mill Synagogue Tora and secular studies) advocates—“just incorporate these references to be name-droppers, to impress everyone that you are well-read in order to try to get the listeners to pay atten- consciousness.