The Rav

This image of Rabbi Joseph Dov Ber Solovetchik - or the Rav as he was known by his followers - captures the great thinker in a state of overwhelm. It emphasizes the Rav’s honest and deep confrontation to the challenge of life. Like any great artist, the Rav allowed his heart to feel things deeply. As he said,

“Judaism, in contradistinction to mystical quietism, which recommended toleration of pain, wants man to cry out aloud against any kind of pain, to react indignantly to all kinds of injustice or unfairness. For Judaism held that the individual who displays indifference to pain and suffering, who meekly reconciles himself to the ugly, disproportionate and unjust in life, is not capable of appreciating beauty and goodness. Whoever permits his legitimate needs to go unsatisfied will never be sympathetic to the crying needs of others."