Rabbi JB Soloveitchik’s “Chabad Speech” Uncovered in Historic Journal

A powerful address delivered by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik at the 45th anniversary dinner of Tomchei Tmimim, where he passionately praised the Frierdiker Rebbe and his work to revitalize American Jewry, was translated into English for the first time, and printed together with the original Yiddish address.

By Anash.org reporter

A powerful address delivered by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik at the 45th anniversary dinner of Tomchei Tmimim, where he passionately praised the Frierdiker Rebbe and his work to revitalize American Jewry, was translated into English for the first time, and printed together with the original Yiddish address.

Rabbi Soloveichik, known to many as “The Rav,” was the rosh yeshivah (dean) of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary at Yeshiva University in New York City. He was a great thinker who authored many volumes on Jewish thought and law, and a great Talmudic scholar and educator.

At the time of the dinner, which took place two years following the transfer of Tomchei Tmimim from war-torn Europe to the United States, Rabbi Soloveitchik was completing his first year of delivering Talmud lectures at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) following the passing of his father Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik in 1941, though was not yet officially considered a Rosh Yeshiva at the institution. At a number of crucial points during the previous year, the Frierdiker Rebbe was particularly supportive of Rabbi Soloveitchik’s candidacy to inherit his father’s position as Rosh Yeshiva at RIETS, and wrote several letters in support.

During his address, Rabbi Soloveitchik recalled his youthful connection to Chabad, and went on to praise the Frierdiker Rebbe, comparing his efforts to revitalize American Jewry to the Gemara’s description of the Tanna Rebbi Chanina ben Dosa. Rabbi Soloveitchik spoke in defense of the Frierdiker Rebbe’s Moshiach campaign, which was then at its climax.

Following the dinner, the speech was transcribed along with the other speeches delivered at the banquet, and published in a commemorative pamphlet. However as the decades passed, the powerful speech was largely forgotten, and few copies of the booklet remained.

In honor of the 80th birthday of Rabbi Hershel Schachter, Reb Menachem Butler undertook the task of bringing the address back to light. After tracking a copy down to the Rebbe’s library in Crown Heights, he had the speech retyped, and translated into English for the first time. Published by Shikey Press, the booklet gives a window into the fascinating relationship between Rabbi Soloveitchik and Lubavitch, as well as the history of Chabad during its first years in America.

In the address recorded in the booklet, Rabbi Soloveitchik was not content with just speaking words of inspiration, He concluded by turning to the crowd and saying “This finger (pointing at the hand of the Lubavitcher Rebbe) is writing the Luchos, and your finger (pointing at the crowd) should give the half-shekel of redemption, and in that merit – the thumb and the entire hand of Hashem will eliminate all enemies of Israel and of God and we will merit to the Final Redemption.”

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