Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik (1)

[Due to the difficulty of the original materials, we will need to return to Rav Kook's philosophy of prayer at a later date. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy our next topic, Philosophy of Prayer | Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik.]

We will now begin to examine the teachings of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik on prayer.

Rabbi Soloveitchik lived almost the entire length of the 20^th century, 5663-5753 (1903-1993). His life can be divided into three periods, in three different regions of the world. He began his journey in Eastern Europe, continued in Berlin in Western Europe, and then lived in the United States until his death. He spent a short time in the Land of Israel, though only for a visit. These places represent not just three different countries, but three different spiritual worlds. As a child, Rabbi Soloveitchik lived in the world of Lithuanian-Briskian Torah scholarship. He was the grandson of Rabbi Chaim of Brisk, and learned most of his Torah from his father, Rabbi Moshe Soloveitchik, who is considered the continuation of the Brisk dynasty. He was also familiar with Chabad Chasidism, which took root not far from the land of his youth. In Berlin, Rabbi Soloveitchik encountered the Western world; he studied at the local university, where he received his doctorate. He then settled in the United States, was appointed as rabbi of the Orthodox community in Boston, and later succeeded his father as the head of Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), which is associated with Yeshiva University. During those years, he became one of the leaders of the Orthodox community in the United States as a whole. He also underwent a conceptual upheaval, and after having been identified with Agudat Israel, he moved to the Mizrachi movement. He was a candidate for the position of Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, but was not chosen; it was later suggested that he become a candidate for the position of Chief Rabbi of Israel, but he refused. In any event, this direction reflects Rabbi Soloveitchik's relationship to the State of Israel.

In the field of Torah scholarship, Rabbi Soloveitchik continued in the path of the Brisk dynasty. It might be said, in general terms, that Rabbi Chaim of Brisk presented his method of study mainly in the Talmudic orders of Nashim (Women) and Nezikin (Damages); his son, Rabbi Yitzchak Ze’ev Soloveitchik (the Griz), applied the method to the order of Kodshim (consecrated things), and Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik expanded it to the orders of Zera'im (prayer and agricultural laws) and Mo'ed (Shabbat and the festivals). Most of the shiurim that he delivered on his father's yahrzeit, which were collected in the book, Shiurim le-Zekher Abba Mari, relate to tractate Berakhot and the order of Mo'ed. What distinguishes these tractates, among other things, is their striking affinity to the conceptual plane. The choice of these tractates reflects Rabbi Soloveitchik's connection to the conceptual and philosophical world.

Rabbi Soloveitchik's Brisker roots stand out in his halakhic teachings, finding expression in his analytic dissection of material and the way he breaks down every halakhic issue into its separate and distinct elements. The same method is also prominent in his philosophical thinking. In Halakhic Man, for example, Rabbi Soloveitchik distinguishes between two paradigms, cognitive man and religious man, which are actually two sides of the halakhic man. 

As for the issue of prayer, several key issues are evident in Rabbi Soloveitchik's teachings.

The Act of Prayer and the Fulfillment of Prayer

The first point that characterizes Rabbi Soloveitchik’s perspectives on prayer is their foundation on the laws of prayer. Halakha is the basis on which he builds his conceptual approach to prayer.

Rabbi Soloveitchik argues that the Rambam redeemed prayer. He is referring not to Rambam's philosophical works, such as Guide for the Perplexed, but to what he writes in Hilkhot Tefilla. Rabbi Soloveitchik identifies two key elements in the Rambam's laws of prayer: the definition of prayer as a mitzva from the Torah, and the assertion that “service of the heart” is prayer. The Rambam was not the first to say that prayer is obligatory, nor did he innovate the idea of "service of the heart." Nevertheless, according to Rabbi Soloveitchik, he was the central figure who established that prayer is a Torah obligation. In doing so, he may not have changed the number of people who pray, but he changed the place of prayer in the spiritual world, and set it in the heart of Halakha. In addition to this, in light of the Rambam's assertion that service of the heart is prayer, Rabbi Soloveitchik set prayer at the core of the service of God.

In the following passage, Rabbi Soloveitchik relies on the general definition of prayer in the words of the Rambam, and we can see how he uses actual halakhic definitions:

The act of prayer (ma'aseh) is formal, the recitation of a known, set text; but the fulfillment of prayer, its kiyyum, is subjective: it is the service of the heart. The intention (kavana) required for prayer is not like the kavana required for other mitzvot. In other commandments the intention is not the most important element. It is a secondary element, even if it is required for the fulfillment of the mitzva. Rather, it is the act, the concrete action, that is primary, and kavana simply accompanies the action. [Whether kavana is necessary for the performance of the mitzva is a matter of dispute. According to many Talmudic sages and decisors, intention must accompany, and is a necessary condition of fulfillment. According to many other decisors, however, lack of intention does not prevent fulfillment of the mitzva. But even if intention is required, it is distinct from the action itself.] With prayer, however, kavana is the essence and substance: prayer without intention is nothing. (Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Worship of the Heart, p. 147)

Rabbi Soloveitchik distinguishes here between two ideas that sound quite similar but are actually different: the act of prayer and its fulfillment. The act of prayer is the deed that must be performed for the sake of the mitzva, but the fulfillment of the mitzva is the intention. The act of prayer is objective – everyone recites the same words – but the fulfillment is subjective, an internal process that each person undergoes individually. Even before him, Rabbi Chaim of Brisk proposed that the fulfillment of prayer is in the intent to stand before God. Beyond the obligation to direct specific words to specific contents, the worshiper must concentrate on the fact that he is standing and speaking before God in prayer. Continuing in this vein, Rabbi Soloveitchik makes the conceptual distinction between the act of prayer and the fulfillment of prayer.

Most mitzvot do not involve both of these components, an act and a fulfillment; usually, a mitzva is fulfilled by either an act or an intention. The commandment to eat matza on Pesach, for example, is fulfilled through the act of eating, while the commandment to fear God is fulfilled through one’s inner intent. Prayer is unusual in that it involves a physical act but the mitzva is fulfilled through one’s intentions – though there are other examples of this phenomenon. For instance, the Rambam states that one takes a lulav and rejoices with it before God; according to Rabbi Soloveitchik, the act of the mitzva is the physical taking of the four species, while the fulfillment of the mitzva is the joy. Another example is mourning on Yom Tov: Yom Tov interrupts mourning, even though there is no contradiction in practice between the actions that must be performed on Yom Tov and the rites of mourning, because these mitzvot are fulfilled through contradictory mental states. There is even a discussion regarding the mitzva of eating matza: "Anyone who does not say these three things on Pesach does not fulfill his obligation: the Pesach offering, matza, and maror." If one does not explain why he is eating matza, which obligation has he not fulfilled? Either the obligation to retell the story of the exodus from Egypt, or the obligation to eat matza. According to the second possibility, there is a distinction between action and intention even with regard to eating matza: the required act is to eat matza, but the fulfillment is to remember the exodus from Egypt.

As mentioned, Rabbi Soloveitchik emphasized tractate Berakhot and the order of Mo'ed. Indeed, it turns out that there are mental-conceptual elements in these sections of the Talmud that are an inseparable part of Halakha. Halakha requires us to act in accordance with emotional worlds that carry conceptual contents as well.

(Translated by David Strauss)