From Pruzhan to Boston

The Rav lived in four countries through the course of his life: Poland, White Russia, Germany, and the United States. Cities he called home include Pruzhan (Poland), Khaslavichy (White Russia), Warsaw (Poland), Berlin (Germany), and Boston (United States). As Rosh Yeshiva of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) in New York, the Rav commuted weekly from Boston to New York City and may have logged as many as a million miles (certainly several hundred thousand). It is likely that no Torah sage in Jewish history ever travelled that much.

Original Discoveries In 2009, TheRav.Info discovered a series of official documents recording the Rav's immigration to the United States.* As far as we can tell, these documents were previously unknown to scholars on the Rav's life. With gratitude to the Almighty, we proudly present them here.

First Entry into the US

Ship manifest for the Rav's first entry into the United States along with his wife Tonya and his daughter Atarah. Click to enlarge

The Rav, the Rebbetzin, and Atarah departed Liverpool, England and sailed aboard a ship called the Baltic. They arrived in New York on August 29, 1932.

Article in Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The Baltic

The Baltic, built in 1904, was the largest liner in the world at the time of completion. Japanese ship-breakers destroyed it in 1933. Click to enlarge.

Second Entry After Trip to Eretz Israel

Ship manifest for the Rav's re-entry into the United States after his visit to Eretz Israel in 1935. (Line 19) Click to enlarge.

The Rav sailed aboard an Italian ship called the Rex which British aircraft later sunk during World War II.

The Rav's naturalization card, dated September 19, 1938

*These documents are from the collection of the national archives and are in the public domain. The photo of the Baltic from 1904 is assumed to be in the public domain.

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

Rabbi Soloveitchik

Journies

From Pruzhan to Boston

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