Yitzchok Hutner
Encyclopedia
Yitzchok Hutner (1906–1980) was an Orthodox
rabbi
and American rosh yeshiva
.
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, Poland
, to a family with both Ger
Hasidic
and non-Hasidic Lithuanian Jewish
roots. As a child he received private instruction in Torah
and Talmud
. As a teenager he was enrolled in the Slabodka yeshiva
in Lithuania
, headed by Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, where he was known as the "Warsaw Illui" ("prodigy").
Having obtained a solid grounding in Talmud
, Hutner joined a group of the Slabodka yeshiva that established a new yeshiva in Hebron
. He studied there until 1929, narrowly escaping the 1929 Hebron massacre
because he was away for the weekend, on his way to see Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook
. It was during his stay in the British Mandate of Palestine that he became a disciple of Kook, the first chief rabbi
of Palestine (as it was then known.) The philosophical and mystical mind-set of both men made them kindred spirits. Like Kook, the young Hutner eventually developed a warm welcoming posture towards non-religious Jews who were seeking to become more religious. They viewed things in the context of the end of the Jewish exile, golus
(galut), with the imminent coming of the messianic era
.
In later years, when Kook's name became associated with the Mizrachi
, part of the Religious Zionist Movement
, Hutner, an eventual member of the non-Zionist Haredi
Agudath Israel of America
's Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah
("Council of Torah Sages"), sought to downplay his former association with Kook, even though he maintained cordial relations with Kook's son and heir Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook
and other prominent students such as Rabbi Moshe-Zvi Neria
. Hutner's students recount that on Sukkot
he would hang a portrait of Kook in his sukkah
. When controversy arose regarding the conscription of religious girls (giyus banot) into the Israel Defense Forces
after the founding of the State of Israel
in 1948, the photo of Kook was removed and replaced with one of Rabbi Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz who ruled that Jewish females are forbidden to perform National Service (Sherut Leumi) in lieu of army service. Finally, when Hutner composed and published his work Pachad Yitzchok there is no overt reference to any of Kook's own extensive works (although Kook's ideas and motifs permeate Hutner's work according to those familiar with both rabbis' writings.) However, a select few of Hutner's early students are said to recall some of Hutner's lengthy comments to them regarding Kook, but none of them have ever written or repeated anything about what was said to them in a public forum. It has remained for the Religious Zionist
teacher, Neria to republish the approbation that Kook had written and some correspondence between Kook and Hutner about it.
at the University of Berlin, but not for degree purposes; he was not interested in degrees or the jobs they could offer, but only in the actual material that the university taught him. During this period, in 1932, he wrote Torat HaNazir, a text dealing with the laws of the Nazarite, which he published containing an approbation from his mentor Kook. He also spent time familiarizing himself with the intellectual milieu of Germany.
He befriended two other future rabbinical leaders then studying philosophy in Berlin: Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, later to become rosh yeshiva
at Yeshiva University
in New York City
, and Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
who would become rebbe
of Chabad-Lubavitch
in Brooklyn
. The three were to retain close and cordial personal relations throughout their lives, even though each differed from the other radically in Torah weltanschauung (hashkafa
). Nevertheless, each developed a unique bridge and synthesis between the Eastern Europe
an world-view connecting it with a Westernized
way of thinking. This was a key factor enabling them to serve successfully as spiritual leaders in the United States of America
.
After marrying his American-born wife, Masha Lipshitz, in Warsaw
, Poland, in 1932, the couple spent about a year in Palestine where Hutner completed his research and writing of his Kovetz Ha'aros on Hillel ben Eliakim
's commentary on midrash
sifra
. He visited Europe in 1934 to collate manuscripts of Hillel ben Eliakim's commentary.
By 1935 the couple had emigrated to Brooklyn, New York
where Hutner pursued his private studies, initially not actively seeking a formal position. However, he soon joined the faculty of the Rabbi Jacob Joseph School
(RJJ) and sometime between 1935–1936 was appointed first as a teacher then as principal of the newly established high school division of the Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin
known as Mesivta Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin. The yeshiva, founded in 1904, was - and is - the oldest elementary yeshiva in Brooklyn. During 1939 and 1940 he established the yeshiva's post-high school beth midrash
division and became the senior rosh yeshivah of the entire Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin. In this effort he also received the help of Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz
who headed Brooklyn's largest and more established Yeshiva Torah Vodaas
. Under Hutner's charismatic leadership, Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin grew from relative obscurity to prominence, and with it grew his reputation in the world of Torah scholarship.
with hundreds of students.
He viewed secular studies as essential in learning a profession for people to support themselves by eventually going to college and becoming professionals. Together with the dean of the Yeshiva Torah Vodaas
, Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz
, a charter to set up a combined yeshiva and college was obtained from the New York State Board of Regents
. However, this plan was abandoned upon the insistence of Rabbi Aharon Kotler
then head of the Lakewood yeshiva
.
Hutner did, however, maintain his relatively liberal policy during his tenure at the helm of his own Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin, allowing students to combine their day's learning in yeshiva together with attending college, mainly at Brooklyn College
and later at Touro College
in late afternoons and evenings. He would take great pride in the secular accomplishments of his students insofar as they fit into his vision of a material world governed by the principles of a spiritual Torah
way of life. One of his closest disciples is the renowned economist
, Rabbi Israel Kirzner
, who edited Hutner's written works, Pachad Yitzchok. Many of Hutner's disciples went about quietly obtaining doctorates often with his blessings and guidance, including his daughter and only child, Rebbetzin Dr. Bruria David, who obtained her PhD
at Columbia University
in the department of philosophy
as a student of Salo Baron
. She subsequently founded and became the dean of a major seminary for Jewish women in Jerusalem known as Beth Jacob of Jerusalem (BJJ) which caters to young women from Haredi
families in the United States. Her dissertation discussed the dual role of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Chajes
as both a traditionalist and maskil
("follower of the enlightenment
"). Some have noted the remarkable parallels between her own father and Rabbi Chajes, the subject of her dissertation.
The list also includes Rabbis Shlomo Teichman (mathematics) founder and dean of Bais Yaakov Academy, Shlomo Braunstein (statistics) rosh yeshiva and principal, Shlomo Ribner (psychology) psychologist and rosh yeshiva, Moshe Homnick (psychology), Ahron Soloveichik
(law) rosh yeshiva, Zecharia Dor-Shav (Dershowitz) (psychology) educator, Aharon Lichtenstein
(literature) rosh yeshiva, Dr Abraham J. Tannenbaum (education), Joseph Thurm (information technology), Naftoli Meir Langsam (education), Yedidyah Langsam (chemistry & computer science), Chaim Feuerman (education), Zvhil-Mezbuz Rebbe Grand Rabbi Yitzhak Aharon Korff (law, international law and diplomacy). Many alumni of Rabbi Hutner's yeshiva have attained success as attorneys, accountants, doctors, and in information technology.
Hutner was well-versed in many intellectual areas, even studying and refuting secular and non-traditional Jewish scholarship. It is alleged that Hutner once slapped a student who made a remark about a religious issue, saying to the student "You read that in Heschel
!"
Hutner appointed Slabodka yeshiva
educated Rabbi Avigdor Miller
as the Mashgiach ruchani
("spiritual mentor and supervisor") of the yeshiva. After the yeshiva relocated to Far Rockaway, New York in the 1960s, Miller resigned from his position due to the difficulties a daily commute from Brooklyn entailed.
Hutner developed a style of celebrating Shabbat
and the Jewish holiday
s by delivering a type of discourse known as a ma'amar. It was a combination of Talmudic discourse, Hasidic
celebration (tish
), philosophic lecture, group singing, and when possible, like on Purim
, a ten-piece band was brought in as accompaniment. Many times there was singing and dancing all night. All of this, together with the respect to his authority that he demanded, induced in his students an obedience and something of a "heightened consciousness" that passed into their lives transforming them into literal Hasidim of their rosh yeshiva
, who in turn encouraged this by eventually personally donning Hasidic garb, (begadim) and behaving like something of a synthesis between a rosh yeshiva and a rebbe
. He also instructed some of his students to do likewise.
" could tolerate.
Hillel Goldberg writes that Hutner became a fierce critic of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic group and the "personality cult built up around" its Rebbe Schneerson. Nevertheless, he corresponded regularly with Schneerson over the years, seeking his views on a variety of halakhic, chassidic and kabbalistic subjects, and occasionally seeking his blessing. He also had several private audiences with Schneerson, during which they conversed for lengthy periods of time.
He reportedly forbade his students from attending any lectures given by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik while at the same time appointing Soloveitchik's younger brother, whom he had tutored in Warsaw
, Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik
(later to head his own yeshiva in Skokie near Chicago, Illinois) as head of his own Yeshivas Rabbi Chaim Berlin. Ahron Soloveichik completed a Doctorate
in law
at New York University
at the same time that he lectured in Hutner's Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin.
In the 1950s, he established a school for post-graduate married scholars to continue their in-depth Talmudical studies. This was a kollel
, (a post graduate division), the Kollel Gur Aryeh
, one of the first of its kind in America. Many of his students became prominent educational, outreach, and pulpit rabbis. He stayed in touch with them and was intimately involved in major communal policy decision-making as he worked through his network of students in positions of leadership, and won over to his cause people who came to meet with him.
, ("Fear [of] Isaac", meaning the God whom Isaac
[had] feared). He called his outlook Hilchot Deot Vechovot Halevavot, ("Laws [of] 'Ideas' and 'Duties [of the] Heart'") and wrote in a poetic modern-style Hebrew
reminiscent of his original mentor Kook's style, even though almost all of Hutner's original lectures were delivered in Yiddish
.
The core of his synthesis of different schools of Jewish thought was rooted in his deep studies of the teachings of Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel
(1525–1609) a scholar and mystic known as the Maharal of Prague
. Various pillars of Hutner's thought system were likely the works of the Vilna Gaon
, Rabbi Elijah, (1720–1797) and of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto
(1707–1746). He would only allude in the most general ways to other great mystics, in Hebrew mekubalim, such as the Baal Shem Tov (founder of Hasidism), the great mystic known as the Ari
who lived in the late Middle Ages, the founder of Chabad Hasidism, the Baal HaTanya
Shneur Zalman of Liadi
, Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Leiner
of Izbitz and many other great Hasidic masters as well as to the great works of Kabbalah
such as the Zohar
.
, who split with Hutner and became a prominent scholar at Conservative Judaism
's Jewish Theological Seminary of America
(JTSA). Another was a cousin to Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach
, who was appointed as the mashgiach ruchani
("spiritual supervisor") at the Yeshiva Chaim Berlin, but who split with Hutner on policy matters in the 1970s. They were both Holocaust
survivors who Hutner took upon himself to raise as his own "sons" together with others in similar circumstances.
Hutner is known to have given smicha to Carlebach, during the days that the latter was still with Lubavitch.
In the early forties Hutner asked a friend from Slabodka, Rabbi Saul Lieberman
to become a dean-Talmudical lecturer in Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin. Lieberman instead accepted an offer from the JTSA, the seminary of Conservative Judaism.
Hutner had a number of disagreements with some of the religious scholars who taught in his Yeshiva. These disputes were usually not over ideology, but about positions in the school. Hutner attempted (and did in many cases) ease out the older rabbis who were his contemporaries in favor of his disciples. Rabbis Prusskin (a first cousin to his wife), Goldstone, Shurkin, Snow, Avrohom Asher Zimmerman and others are among them. Though Hutner was, by all accounts, quite steadfast in his opinions, he was nevertheless not above begging forgiveness from those he had slighted, even when they had initiated attacks on him, and adopting a conciliatory tone.
He did initiate a number of changes in Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin that differed greatly from the mussar
yeshiva practice in Slabodka. He abolished the half hour learning session in mussar ("ethics") and replaced it with one of ten or fifteen minutes. He changed the traditional mussar lecture to a maamar utilizing Maharal instead of the classical mussar approach to Torah study
.
His students included Rabbis: Yonasan David
(his son-in-law) and Aharon Schechter, his successors as Rosh Yeshiva
s of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin; Hirsch Diskind, son-in-law of Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky
and long-time Dean of Bais Yaakov School for Girls in Baltimore, Aharon Lichtenstein
, son-in-law of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and Rosh Yeshiva
of Yeshivat Har Etzion
in Israel; Pinchas Stolper
of the Orthodox Union
and founder of NCSY who followed Hutner's guidelines in setting up this youth outreach movement; Avrohom Davis, founder of the Metzudah religious books series; Shlomo Freifeld
who set up one of the first full-time yeshivas for baal teshuva
students in the world, and who personally maintained an open relationship with Lubavitch; Joshua Fishman, leader and executive Vice President of Torah Umesorah the National Society for Hebrew Day Schools; Avrohom Kleinkaufman, a lecturer in Yeshiva of Far Rockaway
and translator of the Genesis and Exodus volumes of the Metzuda Bible Commentary of Rabbi Solomon and the Kol Sasson Sephardic Siddurim and Machzorim; Yaakov Perlow
, the Novominsker Rebbe
of Boro Park; Meir Bilitzky, senior rabbi of Young Israel of New Hyde Park; Noah Weinberg
founder and head of Aish Hatorah
and his brother Yaakov Weinberg
of Ner Israel Yeshiva
in Baltimore; Yosef Katzenstein of Copenhagen, author of Kol Chayil and Lema'an Achai; Feivel Cohen of Brooklyn, author of "Badei HaShulchan" and world renowned posek
, Dovid Cohen, rabbi of Congregation Gvul Yaabetz and an author of a number of books on Jewish theology, and Ahron Kaufman Rosh HaYeshiva of Yeshiva Gedola of Waterbury, son in law to Feivel Cohen.
were returning to New York when their airplane was hijacked
by the PFLP Palestinian terrorist organization. The terrorists freed the non-Jewish passengers and held the Jewish passengers hostage on the plane for one week, after which the women and children were released and sent to Cyprus
. The hijacked airplanes were subsequently detonated. The remaining 40-plus Jewish men – including Rabbi Hutner, Rabbi David, and two students accompanying Rabbi Hutner, Rabbi Meir Fund and Rabbi Yaakov Drillman – and male flight crew continued to be held hostage in and around Amman
, Jordan
; Rabbi Hutner was held alone in an isolated location while Jews around the world prayed fervently for his safe release. The terrorists tried to cut off his beard, but were stopped by their commanders. Rabbi Hutner was reunited with the rest of the hostages on 18 September, and was finally released on 26 September and flown together with his family members to Nicosia
, Cyprus. Israeli Knesset
Member Rabbi Menachem Porush
chartered a private plane to meet the Hutners in Nicosia, and gave the Rav his own shirt and tallit katan, since Rabbi Hutner's tallit, tefillin
, shirt, jacket and hat had been confiscated during his three-week ordeal. Rabbi Porush reported that Rabbi Hutner had also lost 20 kilograms (44.1 lb), and his students appeared similarly emaciated. On 28 September Rabbi Hutner and his group were flown back to New York via Europe, and were home in time for the first night of Rosh Hashana.
Despite this experience, Hutner continued his efforts to build his yeshiva in Israel. Eventually it was established and named Yeshiva Pachad Yitzchok
, based on his life's work, in Har Nof
, Jerusalem. He died in 1980 and is buried in Jerusalem.
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
and American rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...
.
Early years
Yitchok Hutner was born in WarsawWarsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, to a family with both Ger
Ger (Hasidic dynasty)
Ger, or Gur is a Hasidic dynasty originating from Ger, the Yiddish name of Góra Kalwaria, a small town in Poland....
Hasidic
Hasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
and non-Hasidic Lithuanian Jewish
Lithuanian Jews
Lithuanian Jews or Litvaks are Jews with roots in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania:...
roots. As a child he received private instruction in Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
and Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
. As a teenager he was enrolled in the Slabodka yeshiva
Slabodka yeshiva
Hebron Yeshiva, also known as Yeshivas Hevron, or Knesses Yisroel, and originally as Slabodka Yeshiva, is known colloquially as the "mother of yeshivas" and was devoted to high=level study of the Talmud. The yeshiva was located in the Lithuanian town of Slabodka, adjacent to Kovno , now...
in Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
, headed by Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, where he was known as the "Warsaw Illui" ("prodigy").
Having obtained a solid grounding in Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
, Hutner joined a group of the Slabodka yeshiva that established a new yeshiva in Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
. He studied there until 1929, narrowly escaping the 1929 Hebron massacre
1929 Hebron massacre
The Hebron massacre refers to the killing of sixty-seven Jews on 23 and 24 August 1929 in Hebron, then part of the British Mandate of Palestine, by Arabs incited to violence by rumors that Jews were massacring Arabs in Jerusalem and seizing control of Muslim holy places...
because he was away for the weekend, on his way to see Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook
Abraham Isaac Kook
Abraham Isaac Kook was the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the British Mandate for Palestine, the founder of the Religious Zionist Yeshiva Merkaz HaRav, Jewish thinker, Halachist, Kabbalist and a renowned Torah scholar...
. It was during his stay in the British Mandate of Palestine that he became a disciple of Kook, the first chief rabbi
Chief Rabbi
Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities...
of Palestine (as it was then known.) The philosophical and mystical mind-set of both men made them kindred spirits. Like Kook, the young Hutner eventually developed a warm welcoming posture towards non-religious Jews who were seeking to become more religious. They viewed things in the context of the end of the Jewish exile, golus
Jewish diaspora
The Jewish diaspora is the English term used to describe the Galut גלות , or 'exile', of the Jews from the region of the Kingdom of Judah and Roman Iudaea and later emigration from wider Eretz Israel....
(galut), with the imminent coming of the messianic era
Jewish Messiah
Messiah, ; mashiah, moshiah, mashiach, or moshiach, is a term used in the Hebrew Bible to describe priests and kings, who were traditionally anointed with holy anointing oil as described in Exodus 30:22-25...
.
In later years, when Kook's name became associated with the Mizrachi
Mizrachi (Religious Zionism)
The Mizrachi is the name of the religious Zionist organization founded in 1902 in Vilnius at a world conference of religious Zionists called by Rabbi Yitzchak Yaacov Reines. Bnei Akiva, which was founded in 1929, is the youth movement associated with Mizrachi...
, part of the Religious Zionist Movement
Religious Zionism
Religious Zionism is an ideology that combines Zionism and Jewish religious faith...
, Hutner, an eventual member of the non-Zionist Haredi
Haredi Judaism
Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
Agudath Israel of America
Agudath Israel of America
Agudath Israel of America , is a Haredi Jewish communal organization in the United States loosely affiliated with the international World Agudath Israel.-Functions:...
's Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah
Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah refers to the supreme rabbinical policy-making council of any of several related Haredi Jewish organizations....
("Council of Torah Sages"), sought to downplay his former association with Kook, even though he maintained cordial relations with Kook's son and heir Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook
Zvi Yehuda Kook
Zvi Yehuda Kook was a rabbi, leader of Religious Zionism and Rosh Yeshiva of the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva...
and other prominent students such as Rabbi Moshe-Zvi Neria
Moshe-Zvi Neria
Rabbi Moshe-Zvi Neria was an Israeli educator and politician who served as a member of the Knesset for the National Religious Party between 1969 and 1974.-Biography:...
. Hutner's students recount that on Sukkot
Sukkot
Sukkot is a Biblical holiday celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei . It is one of the three biblically mandated festivals Shalosh regalim on which Hebrews were commanded to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem.The holiday lasts seven days...
he would hang a portrait of Kook in his sukkah
Sukkah
A sukkah is a temporary hut constructed for use during the week-long Jewish festival of Sukkot. It is topped with branches and often well decorated with autumnal, harvest or Judaic themes...
. When controversy arose regarding the conscription of religious girls (giyus banot) into the Israel Defense Forces
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
after the founding of the State of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
in 1948, the photo of Kook was removed and replaced with one of Rabbi Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz who ruled that Jewish females are forbidden to perform National Service (Sherut Leumi) in lieu of army service. Finally, when Hutner composed and published his work Pachad Yitzchok there is no overt reference to any of Kook's own extensive works (although Kook's ideas and motifs permeate Hutner's work according to those familiar with both rabbis' writings.) However, a select few of Hutner's early students are said to recall some of Hutner's lengthy comments to them regarding Kook, but none of them have ever written or repeated anything about what was said to them in a public forum. It has remained for the Religious Zionist
Religious Zionism
Religious Zionism is an ideology that combines Zionism and Jewish religious faith...
teacher, Neria to republish the approbation that Kook had written and some correspondence between Kook and Hutner about it.
Travels and marriage
After the pogrom in Hebron in 1929, Hutner spent some years as a wandering scholar. First, he returned to Warsaw, from there going to study philosophyPhilosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at the University of Berlin, but not for degree purposes; he was not interested in degrees or the jobs they could offer, but only in the actual material that the university taught him. During this period, in 1932, he wrote Torat HaNazir, a text dealing with the laws of the Nazarite, which he published containing an approbation from his mentor Kook. He also spent time familiarizing himself with the intellectual milieu of Germany.
He befriended two other future rabbinical leaders then studying philosophy in Berlin: Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, later to become rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...
at Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson , known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or just the Rebbe among his followers, was a prominent Hasidic rabbi who was the seventh and last Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. He was fifth in a direct paternal line to the third Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Menachem Mendel...
who would become rebbe
Rebbe
Rebbe , which means master, teacher, or mentor, is a Yiddish word derived from the Hebrew word Rabbi. It often refers to the leader of a Hasidic Jewish movement...
of Chabad-Lubavitch
Chabad
Chabad or Chabad-Lubavitch is a major branch of Hasidic Judaism.Chabad may also refer to:*Chabad-Strashelye, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism*Chabad-Kapust or Kapust, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism...
in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. The three were to retain close and cordial personal relations throughout their lives, even though each differed from the other radically in Torah weltanschauung (hashkafa
Hashkafa
Hashkafa is a Hebrew term often used when referring to one's personal worldview as regards Jewish philosophy and Halacha. See Diversity within Orthodox Judaism under Orthodox Judaism....
). Nevertheless, each developed a unique bridge and synthesis between the Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an world-view connecting it with a Westernized
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
way of thinking. This was a key factor enabling them to serve successfully as spiritual leaders in the United States of America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
After marrying his American-born wife, Masha Lipshitz, in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Poland, in 1932, the couple spent about a year in Palestine where Hutner completed his research and writing of his Kovetz Ha'aros on Hillel ben Eliakim
Hillel ben Eliakim
Hillel ben Eliakim, known in Hebrew to Talmud scholars as Rabbeinu Hillel, , was a Greek rabbi and Talmud scholar...
's commentary on midrash
Midrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
sifra
Sifra
Sifra is the Halakic midrash to Leviticus. It is frequently quoted in the Talmud, and the study of it followed that of the Mishnah, as appears from Tanḥuma, quoted in Or Zarua, i. 7b. Like Leviticus itself, the midrash is occasionally called "Torat Kohanim" , and in two passages also "Sifra debe...
. He visited Europe in 1934 to collate manuscripts of Hillel ben Eliakim's commentary.
By 1935 the couple had emigrated to Brooklyn, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
where Hutner pursued his private studies, initially not actively seeking a formal position. However, he soon joined the faculty of the Rabbi Jacob Joseph School
Rabbi Jacob Joseph School
The Rabbi Jacob Joseph School is an Orthodox Jewish day school located in Staten Island, New York that serves students from nursery through twelfth grade. The school was founded in 1903 and named in honor of Rabbi Jacob Joseph, chief rabbi of New York City's Association of American Orthodox Hebrew...
(RJJ) and sometime between 1935–1936 was appointed first as a teacher then as principal of the newly established high school division of the Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin
Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin
Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin or Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin, is a Haredi Lithuanian-type yeshiva located in Brooklyn, New York. Established in 1904 as Yeshiva Tiferes Bachurim, it is the oldest yeshiva in Kings County...
known as Mesivta Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin. The yeshiva, founded in 1904, was - and is - the oldest elementary yeshiva in Brooklyn. During 1939 and 1940 he established the yeshiva's post-high school beth midrash
Beth midrash
Beth Midrash refers to a study hall, whether in a synagogue, yeshiva, kollel, or other building. It is distinct from a synagogue, although many synagogues are also used as batei midrash and vice versa....
division and became the senior rosh yeshivah of the entire Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin. In this effort he also received the help of Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz
Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz
Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz was an early leader of American Orthodoxy and founder of key institutions such as Torah Vodaath, a Yeshiva in Brooklyn, and Torah U'Mesorah, an outreach and educational organization. He is credited by many to have pioneered authentic Jewish education in the United...
who headed Brooklyn's largest and more established Yeshiva Torah Vodaas
Yeshiva Torah Vodaas
Yeshiva Torah Vodaas is a yeshiva located in the Kensington neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.- History :...
. Under Hutner's charismatic leadership, Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin grew from relative obscurity to prominence, and with it grew his reputation in the world of Torah scholarship.
In the United States
He was able to construct an intense curriculum and an environment that produced young Talmudic scholars who were viewed as being in the same league as their compatriots in Eastern Europe. By 1940 he had established a post-high-school beth midrashBeth midrash
Beth Midrash refers to a study hall, whether in a synagogue, yeshiva, kollel, or other building. It is distinct from a synagogue, although many synagogues are also used as batei midrash and vice versa....
with hundreds of students.
He viewed secular studies as essential in learning a profession for people to support themselves by eventually going to college and becoming professionals. Together with the dean of the Yeshiva Torah Vodaas
Yeshiva Torah Vodaas
Yeshiva Torah Vodaas is a yeshiva located in the Kensington neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York.- History :...
, Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz
Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz
Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz was an early leader of American Orthodoxy and founder of key institutions such as Torah Vodaath, a Yeshiva in Brooklyn, and Torah U'Mesorah, an outreach and educational organization. He is credited by many to have pioneered authentic Jewish education in the United...
, a charter to set up a combined yeshiva and college was obtained from the New York State Board of Regents
University of the State of New York
The University of the State of New York is the State of New York's governmental umbrella organization responsible for most institutions and people in any way connected with formal educational functions, public and private, in New York State...
. However, this plan was abandoned upon the insistence of Rabbi Aharon Kotler
Aharon Kotler
Aharon Kotler was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and a prominent leader of Orthodox Judaism in Lithuania, and later the United States, where he built Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood Township, New Jersey.- Early life :...
then head of the Lakewood yeshiva
Beth Medrash Govoha
Beth Medrash Govoha is a Haredi yeshiva located in Lakewood Township, New Jersey. It is commonly known as BMG, or Lakewood Yeshiva....
.
Hutner did, however, maintain his relatively liberal policy during his tenure at the helm of his own Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin, allowing students to combine their day's learning in yeshiva together with attending college, mainly at Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York, United States.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New...
and later at Touro College
Touro College
Touro College is a sponsored independent institution of higher and professional education, in New York City, New York, United States. Founded by Dr. Bernard Lander, the College was established primarily to enrich the Jewish heritage, and to serve the larger American community...
in late afternoons and evenings. He would take great pride in the secular accomplishments of his students insofar as they fit into his vision of a material world governed by the principles of a spiritual Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
way of life. One of his closest disciples is the renowned economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
, Rabbi Israel Kirzner
Israel Kirzner
Israel Meir Kirzner is a leading economist in the Austrian School.-Early life:The son of a well-known rabbi and Talmudist, Kirzner was born in London, England and came to the United States via South Africa.-Education:After studying with the University of Cape Town, South Africa in 1947-48 and...
, who edited Hutner's written works, Pachad Yitzchok. Many of Hutner's disciples went about quietly obtaining doctorates often with his blessings and guidance, including his daughter and only child, Rebbetzin Dr. Bruria David, who obtained her PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in the department of philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
as a student of Salo Baron
Salo Wittmayer Baron
Salo Wittmayer Baron was an American historian of Polish-Austrian Jewish ancestry and the most noted historian of the Jews of his generation. Baron taught at Columbia University from 1930 until his retirement in 1963....
. She subsequently founded and became the dean of a major seminary for Jewish women in Jerusalem known as Beth Jacob of Jerusalem (BJJ) which caters to young women from Haredi
Haredi Judaism
Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
families in the United States. Her dissertation discussed the dual role of Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Chajes
Zvi Hirsch Chajes
Zvi Hirsch Chajes was one of the foremost Galician talmudic scholars. He is best known for his work Mevo Hatalmud , which serves both as commentary and introduction...
as both a traditionalist and maskil
Haskalah
Haskalah , the Jewish Enlightenment, was a movement among European Jews in the 18th–19th centuries that advocated adopting enlightenment values, pressing for better integration into European society, and increasing education in secular studies, Hebrew language, and Jewish history...
("follower of the enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
"). Some have noted the remarkable parallels between her own father and Rabbi Chajes, the subject of her dissertation.
The list also includes Rabbis Shlomo Teichman (mathematics) founder and dean of Bais Yaakov Academy, Shlomo Braunstein (statistics) rosh yeshiva and principal, Shlomo Ribner (psychology) psychologist and rosh yeshiva, Moshe Homnick (psychology), Ahron Soloveichik
Ahron Soloveichik
Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik; was a renowned scholar of Talmud, Halakha and a Rosh Yeshiva; known especially within circles of Orthodox Judaism.-Biography:...
(law) rosh yeshiva, Zecharia Dor-Shav (Dershowitz) (psychology) educator, Aharon Lichtenstein
Aharon Lichtenstein
Aharon Lichtenstein is a noted Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva.Rabbi Lichtenstein was born in Paris, France, but grew up in the United States, studied in Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin under Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner...
(literature) rosh yeshiva, Dr Abraham J. Tannenbaum (education), Joseph Thurm (information technology), Naftoli Meir Langsam (education), Yedidyah Langsam (chemistry & computer science), Chaim Feuerman (education), Zvhil-Mezbuz Rebbe Grand Rabbi Yitzhak Aharon Korff (law, international law and diplomacy). Many alumni of Rabbi Hutner's yeshiva have attained success as attorneys, accountants, doctors, and in information technology.
Hutner was well-versed in many intellectual areas, even studying and refuting secular and non-traditional Jewish scholarship. It is alleged that Hutner once slapped a student who made a remark about a religious issue, saying to the student "You read that in Heschel
Abraham Joshua Heschel
Abraham Joshua Heschel was a Polish-born American rabbi and one of the leading Jewish theologians and Jewish philosophers of the 20th century.-Biography:...
!"
Hutner appointed Slabodka yeshiva
Slabodka yeshiva
Hebron Yeshiva, also known as Yeshivas Hevron, or Knesses Yisroel, and originally as Slabodka Yeshiva, is known colloquially as the "mother of yeshivas" and was devoted to high=level study of the Talmud. The yeshiva was located in the Lithuanian town of Slabodka, adjacent to Kovno , now...
educated Rabbi Avigdor Miller
Avigdor Miller
Rabbi Avigdor Miller was a Haredi rabbi, author and lecturer in the United States. He served simultaneously as a communal rabbi and as the mashgiach ruchani of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin and as a teacher in Beis Yaakov for many years.-Biography:Rabbi Miller was born in 1908 in Baltimore...
as the Mashgiach ruchani
Mashgiach ruchani
Mashgiach ruchani or mashgiach for short, means a spiritual supervisor or guide. It is a title which usually refers to a rabbi who has an official position within a yeshiva and is responsible for the non-academic areas of yeshiva students' lives.The position of mashgiach ruchani arose with the...
("spiritual mentor and supervisor") of the yeshiva. After the yeshiva relocated to Far Rockaway, New York in the 1960s, Miller resigned from his position due to the difficulties a daily commute from Brooklyn entailed.
Hutner developed a style of celebrating Shabbat
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
and the Jewish holiday
Jewish holiday
Jewish holidays are days observed by Jews as holy or secular commemorations of important events in Jewish history. In Hebrew, Jewish holidays and festivals, depending on their nature, may be called yom tov or chag or ta'anit...
s by delivering a type of discourse known as a ma'amar. It was a combination of Talmudic discourse, Hasidic
Hasidic Judaism
Hasidic Judaism or Hasidism, from the Hebrew —Ḥasidut in Sephardi, Chasidus in Ashkenazi, meaning "piety" , is a branch of Orthodox Judaism that promotes spirituality and joy through the popularisation and internalisation of Jewish mysticism as the fundamental aspects of the Jewish faith...
celebration (tish
Tish (Hasidic celebration)
A tish , also spelled tisch, is a gathering of Hasidim around their Rebbe. It may consist of speeches on Torah subjects, singing of melodies known as niggunim and zemirot , with refreshments being served. Hasidim see it as a moment of great holiness...
), philosophic lecture, group singing, and when possible, like on Purim
Purim
Purim is a Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire from destruction in the wake of a plot by Haman, a story recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther .Purim is celebrated annually according to the Hebrew calendar on the 14th...
, a ten-piece band was brought in as accompaniment. Many times there was singing and dancing all night. All of this, together with the respect to his authority that he demanded, induced in his students an obedience and something of a "heightened consciousness" that passed into their lives transforming them into literal Hasidim of their rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...
, who in turn encouraged this by eventually personally donning Hasidic garb, (begadim) and behaving like something of a synthesis between a rosh yeshiva and a rebbe
Rebbe
Rebbe , which means master, teacher, or mentor, is a Yiddish word derived from the Hebrew word Rabbi. It often refers to the leader of a Hasidic Jewish movement...
. He also instructed some of his students to do likewise.
Methodology
His methodology and style was complex, controversial, and difficult to pigeonhole. While placing great emphasis on intellectually penetrating Talmudic study and analysis, emotionally he veered towards the Hasidic-style, and more-so than his Lithuanian-style colleagues reared as "misnagdimMisnagdim
Misnagdim or Mitnagdim is a Hebrew word meaning "opponents". It is the plural of misnaged or mitnaged. Most prominent among the Misnagdim was Rabbi Elijah ben Shlomo Zalman , commonly known as the Vilna Gaon or the Gra...
" could tolerate.
Hillel Goldberg writes that Hutner became a fierce critic of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic group and the "personality cult built up around" its Rebbe Schneerson. Nevertheless, he corresponded regularly with Schneerson over the years, seeking his views on a variety of halakhic, chassidic and kabbalistic subjects, and occasionally seeking his blessing. He also had several private audiences with Schneerson, during which they conversed for lengthy periods of time.
He reportedly forbade his students from attending any lectures given by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik while at the same time appointing Soloveitchik's younger brother, whom he had tutored in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik
Ahron Soloveichik
Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik; was a renowned scholar of Talmud, Halakha and a Rosh Yeshiva; known especially within circles of Orthodox Judaism.-Biography:...
(later to head his own yeshiva in Skokie near Chicago, Illinois) as head of his own Yeshivas Rabbi Chaim Berlin. Ahron Soloveichik completed a Doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
at the same time that he lectured in Hutner's Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin.
In the 1950s, he established a school for post-graduate married scholars to continue their in-depth Talmudical studies. This was a kollel
Kollel
A kollel is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features shiurim and learning sedarim ; unlike a yeshiva, the student body of a kollel are all married men...
, (a post graduate division), the Kollel Gur Aryeh
Kollel Gur Aryeh
Kollel Gur Aryeh is a kollel for young married Orthodox men located in Brooklyn, New York. It was established in 1956 by Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner as the post-graduate division of the Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin. A number of well-known Haredi scholars and rosh yeshivas are among its alumni.The kollel is...
, one of the first of its kind in America. Many of his students became prominent educational, outreach, and pulpit rabbis. He stayed in touch with them and was intimately involved in major communal policy decision-making as he worked through his network of students in positions of leadership, and won over to his cause people who came to meet with him.
Publications
In 1938 Hutner published a short booklet regarding halachic decisions sourced in the Sifra but not cited in the Babylonian Talmud. Many years later, he published what is considered to be his magnum opus, and which he named Pachad YitzchokPachad Yitzchok
Pachad Yitzchok may refer to:* Hebrew of "Fear of Isaac", a Biblical reference in Genesis 31:42 * The writings or person of Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner...
, ("Fear [of] Isaac", meaning the God whom Isaac
Isaac
Isaac as described in the Hebrew Bible, was the only son Abraham had with his wife Sarah, and was the father of Jacob and Esau. Isaac was one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites...
[had] feared). He called his outlook Hilchot Deot Vechovot Halevavot, ("Laws [of] 'Ideas' and 'Duties [of the] Heart'") and wrote in a poetic modern-style Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
reminiscent of his original mentor Kook's style, even though almost all of Hutner's original lectures were delivered in Yiddish
Yiddish language
Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...
.
The core of his synthesis of different schools of Jewish thought was rooted in his deep studies of the teachings of Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel
Judah Loew ben Bezalel
Judah Loew ben Bezalel, alt. Loewe, Löwe, or Levai, widely known to scholars of Judaism as the Maharal of Prague, or simply The MaHaRaL, the Hebrew acronym of "Moreinu ha-Rav Loew," was an important Talmudic scholar, Jewish mystic, and philosopher who served as a leading rabbi in the city of...
(1525–1609) a scholar and mystic known as the Maharal of Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
. Various pillars of Hutner's thought system were likely the works of the Vilna Gaon
Vilna Gaon
Elijah ben Shlomo Zalman Kramer, known as the Vilna Gaon or Elijah of Vilna and simply by his Hebrew acronym Gra or Elijah Ben Solomon, , was a Talmudist, halachist, kabbalist, and the foremost leader of non-hasidic Jewry of the past few centuries...
, Rabbi Elijah, (1720–1797) and of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto
Moshe Chaim Luzzatto
Moshe Chaim Luzzatto , also known by the Hebrew acronym RaMCHaL , was a prominent Italian Jewish rabbi, kabbalist, and philosopher.-Padua:Born in Padua at night, he received classical Jewish and Italian educations, showing a...
(1707–1746). He would only allude in the most general ways to other great mystics, in Hebrew mekubalim, such as the Baal Shem Tov (founder of Hasidism), the great mystic known as the Ari
Isaac Luria
Isaac Luria , also called Yitzhak Ben Shlomo Ashkenazi acronym "The Ari" "Ari-Hakadosh", or "Arizal", meaning "The Lion", was a foremost rabbi and Jewish mystic in the community of Safed in the Galilee region of Ottoman Palestine...
who lived in the late Middle Ages, the founder of Chabad Hasidism, the Baal HaTanya
Tanya
The Tanya is an early work of Hasidic philosophy, by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the founder of Chabad Hasidism, first published in 1797. Its formal title is Likkutei Amarim , but is more commonly known by its opening word, Tanya, which means "it was taught in a beraita"...
Shneur Zalman of Liadi
Shneur Zalman of Liadi
Shneur Zalman of Liadi , also known as the Baal HaTanya, , was an Orthodox Rabbi, and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of Hasidic Judaism, then based in Liadi, Imperial Russia...
, Rabbi Mordechai Yosef Leiner
Mordechai Yosef Leiner
Mordechai Yosef Leiner of Izbica was a rabbinic Hasidic thinker and founder of the Izhbitza-Radzyn dynasty of Hasidic Judaism.Rabbi Mordechai Yosef was born in Tomashov in 1801 to his father Reb Yaakov the son of Reb Mordechai of Sekul, a descendant of Rabbi Shoul Wahl. At the age two he became...
of Izbitz and many other great Hasidic masters as well as to the great works of Kabbalah
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...
such as the Zohar
Zohar
The Zohar is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material on Mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology...
.
Mentor to others
He was a mentor to some famous as well as controversial figures in modern Jewish outreach to other Jews, such as Rabbi David Weiss HalivniDavid Weiss Halivni
David Weiss Halivni is an American-Israeli rabbi, scholar in the domain of Jewish Sciences and professor of Talmud.-Biography:...
, who split with Hutner and became a prominent scholar at Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
's Jewish Theological Seminary of America
Jewish Theological Seminary of America
The Jewish Theological Seminary of America is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism, and a major center for academic scholarship in Jewish studies.JTS operates five schools: Albert A...
(JTSA). Another was a cousin to Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach
Shlomo Carlebach (rabbi)
Shlomo Carlebach -- not to be confused with his cousin Shlomo Carlebach, also a rabbi and a well-known Jewish composer and musician-- is a Haredi rabbi and scholar who was chosen to be the mashgiach ruchani of the Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin located in Brooklyn, in New York City after...
, who was appointed as the mashgiach ruchani
Mashgiach ruchani
Mashgiach ruchani or mashgiach for short, means a spiritual supervisor or guide. It is a title which usually refers to a rabbi who has an official position within a yeshiva and is responsible for the non-academic areas of yeshiva students' lives.The position of mashgiach ruchani arose with the...
("spiritual supervisor") at the Yeshiva Chaim Berlin, but who split with Hutner on policy matters in the 1970s. They were both Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
survivors who Hutner took upon himself to raise as his own "sons" together with others in similar circumstances.
Hutner is known to have given smicha to Carlebach, during the days that the latter was still with Lubavitch.
In the early forties Hutner asked a friend from Slabodka, Rabbi Saul Lieberman
Saul Lieberman
Saul Lieberman , also known as Rabbi Shaul Lieberman or The Gra"sh , was a rabbi and a scholar of Talmud...
to become a dean-Talmudical lecturer in Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin. Lieberman instead accepted an offer from the JTSA, the seminary of Conservative Judaism.
Hutner had a number of disagreements with some of the religious scholars who taught in his Yeshiva. These disputes were usually not over ideology, but about positions in the school. Hutner attempted (and did in many cases) ease out the older rabbis who were his contemporaries in favor of his disciples. Rabbis Prusskin (a first cousin to his wife), Goldstone, Shurkin, Snow, Avrohom Asher Zimmerman and others are among them. Though Hutner was, by all accounts, quite steadfast in his opinions, he was nevertheless not above begging forgiveness from those he had slighted, even when they had initiated attacks on him, and adopting a conciliatory tone.
He did initiate a number of changes in Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin that differed greatly from the mussar
Mussar movement
The Musar movement is a Jewish ethical, educational and cultural movement that developed in 19th century Eastern Europe, particularly among Orthodox Lithuanian Jews. The Hebrew term Musar , is from the book of Proverbs 1:2 meaning instruction, discipline, or conduct...
yeshiva practice in Slabodka. He abolished the half hour learning session in mussar ("ethics") and replaced it with one of ten or fifteen minutes. He changed the traditional mussar lecture to a maamar utilizing Maharal instead of the classical mussar approach to Torah study
Torah study
Torah study is the study by Jewish people of the Torah, Hebrew Bible, Talmud, responsa, rabbinic literature and similar works, all of which are Judaism's religious texts...
.
His students included Rabbis: Yonasan David
Yonasan David
Yonasan Dovid David is the rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Pachad Yitzchok and Kollel Ohr Eliyahu in the Har Nof section in Jerusalem. He also serves as the co-rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin together with Rabbi Aaron Schechter in Brooklyn, New York City.-Biography:Rabbi David is married to Dr...
(his son-in-law) and Aharon Schechter, his successors as Rosh Yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...
s of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin; Hirsch Diskind, son-in-law of Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky
Yaakov Kamenetsky
Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky , was a prominent rosh yeshiva, posek and Talmudist in the post-World War II American Jewish community....
and long-time Dean of Bais Yaakov School for Girls in Baltimore, Aharon Lichtenstein
Aharon Lichtenstein
Aharon Lichtenstein is a noted Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva.Rabbi Lichtenstein was born in Paris, France, but grew up in the United States, studied in Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin under Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner...
, son-in-law of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and Rosh Yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...
of Yeshivat Har Etzion
Yeshivat Har Etzion
Yeshivat Har Etzion, ', commonly known as "Gush," is a hesder yeshiva located in Alon Shvut, a community in Gush Etzion in the West Bank, near Jerusalem, Israel. With a student body of 484, it is one of the largest hesder yeshivas in Israel...
in Israel; Pinchas Stolper
Pinchas Stolper
Pinchas A. Stolper is an Orthodox rabbi, writer, and has been a spokesman for Orthodoxy through his writings and books popularizing Orthodox Judaism.-Biography:...
of the Orthodox Union
Orthodox Union
The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America , more popularly known as the Orthodox Union , is one of the oldest Orthodox Jewish organizations in the United States. It is best known for its kosher food preparation supervision service...
and founder of NCSY who followed Hutner's guidelines in setting up this youth outreach movement; Avrohom Davis, founder of the Metzudah religious books series; Shlomo Freifeld
Shlomo Freifeld
Rabbi Shlomo Freifeld was an influential personality in the world of Orthodox Judaism who established a vibrant outreach Yeshiva in the New York City area. He influenced thousands of students and was a key figure in the Baal Teshuva movement throughout the seventies and eighties.Rabbi Shlomo...
who set up one of the first full-time yeshivas for baal teshuva
Baal teshuva
Baal teshuva or ba'al teshuvah , sometimes abbreviated to BT, is a term referring to a Jew who turns to embrace Orthodox Judaism. Baal teshuva literally means, "repentant", i.e., one who has repented or "returned" to God...
students in the world, and who personally maintained an open relationship with Lubavitch; Joshua Fishman, leader and executive Vice President of Torah Umesorah the National Society for Hebrew Day Schools; Avrohom Kleinkaufman, a lecturer in Yeshiva of Far Rockaway
Yeshiva of Far Rockaway
Yeshiva of Far Rockaway is a Haredi yeshiva located on 802 Hicksville Road, Far Rockaway, Queens in New York City. It comprises a high school and beis medrash, or seminary. The school was founded by the current rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Yechiel Yitzchok Perr, and by the late Rabbi Nachman Bulman...
and translator of the Genesis and Exodus volumes of the Metzuda Bible Commentary of Rabbi Solomon and the Kol Sasson Sephardic Siddurim and Machzorim; Yaakov Perlow
Yaakov Perlow
Rabbi Yaakov Perlow is a Hasidic rebbe and rosh yeshiva living in Boro Park, Brooklyn. He is the current Novominsker Rebbe and serves as rosh of the American Agudath Israel of America, a Haredi communal organization...
, the Novominsker Rebbe
Rebbe
Rebbe , which means master, teacher, or mentor, is a Yiddish word derived from the Hebrew word Rabbi. It often refers to the leader of a Hasidic Jewish movement...
of Boro Park; Meir Bilitzky, senior rabbi of Young Israel of New Hyde Park; Noah Weinberg
Noah Weinberg
Rabbi Yisrael Noach Weinberg was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, rosh yeshiva, and a father of today's baal teshuva movement with his establishment of a global network of educational and kiruv programs for unaffiliated Jewish men and women...
founder and head of Aish Hatorah
Aish HaTorah
Aish HaTorah is a Jewish Orthodox organization and yeshiva. Aish HaTorah is actively pro-Israel and encourages Jewish people to visit Israel and connect to the land and its history. Some consider the organisation to reflect a more Religious Zionist philosophy in its attachment to Israel, promoting...
and his brother Yaakov Weinberg
Yaakov Weinberg
Shmuel Yaakov Weinberg, known as Yaakov Weinberg was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, Talmudist, and rosh yeshiva of Ner Israel Rabbinical College in Baltimore, Maryland one of the major American non-Hasidic yeshivas...
of Ner Israel Yeshiva
Yeshiva Ner Yisrael: Ner Israel Rabbinical College
Ner Israel Rabbinical College or NIRC, is a prominent yeshiva in Baltimore, Maryland, founded in 1933 by Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman, a disciple of Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, dean of the Slabodka yeshiva in Lithuania...
in Baltimore; Yosef Katzenstein of Copenhagen, author of Kol Chayil and Lema'an Achai; Feivel Cohen of Brooklyn, author of "Badei HaShulchan" and world renowned posek
Posek
Posek is the term in Jewish law for "decider"—a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive or in those situations where no halakhic precedent exists....
, Dovid Cohen, rabbi of Congregation Gvul Yaabetz and an author of a number of books on Jewish theology, and Ahron Kaufman Rosh HaYeshiva of Yeshiva Gedola of Waterbury, son in law to Feivel Cohen.
Final years
In the late 1960s he began to visit Israel again, planning to build a new yeshiva there. On 6 September 1970, he and his wife, daughter, and son-in-law Yonasan DavidYonasan David
Yonasan Dovid David is the rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Pachad Yitzchok and Kollel Ohr Eliyahu in the Har Nof section in Jerusalem. He also serves as the co-rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin together with Rabbi Aaron Schechter in Brooklyn, New York City.-Biography:Rabbi David is married to Dr...
were returning to New York when their airplane was hijacked
Dawson's Field hijackings
In the Dawson's Field hijackings five jet aircraft bound for New York City were hijacked by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine...
by the PFLP Palestinian terrorist organization. The terrorists freed the non-Jewish passengers and held the Jewish passengers hostage on the plane for one week, after which the women and children were released and sent to Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
. The hijacked airplanes were subsequently detonated. The remaining 40-plus Jewish men – including Rabbi Hutner, Rabbi David, and two students accompanying Rabbi Hutner, Rabbi Meir Fund and Rabbi Yaakov Drillman – and male flight crew continued to be held hostage in and around Amman
Amman
Amman is the capital of Jordan. It is the country's political, cultural and commercial centre and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. The Greater Amman area has a population of 2,842,629 as of 2010. The population of Amman is expected to jump from 2.8 million to almost...
, Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
; Rabbi Hutner was held alone in an isolated location while Jews around the world prayed fervently for his safe release. The terrorists tried to cut off his beard, but were stopped by their commanders. Rabbi Hutner was reunited with the rest of the hostages on 18 September, and was finally released on 26 September and flown together with his family members to Nicosia
Nicosia
Nicosia from , known locally as Lefkosia , is the capital and largest city in Cyprus, as well as its main business center. Nicosia is the only divided capital in the world, with the southern and the northern portions divided by a Green Line...
, Cyprus. Israeli Knesset
Knesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
Member Rabbi Menachem Porush
Menachem Porush
Menachem Porush was an Israel politician who served as a member of the Knesset for Agudat Yisrael and its alliances between 1959 and 1975, and again from 1977 until 1994.-Biography:...
chartered a private plane to meet the Hutners in Nicosia, and gave the Rav his own shirt and tallit katan, since Rabbi Hutner's tallit, tefillin
Tefillin
Tefillin also called phylacteries are a set of small black leather boxes containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah, which are worn by observant Jews during weekday morning prayers. Although "tefillin" is technically the plural form , it is loosely used as a singular as...
, shirt, jacket and hat had been confiscated during his three-week ordeal. Rabbi Porush reported that Rabbi Hutner had also lost 20 kilograms (44.1 lb), and his students appeared similarly emaciated. On 28 September Rabbi Hutner and his group were flown back to New York via Europe, and were home in time for the first night of Rosh Hashana.
Despite this experience, Hutner continued his efforts to build his yeshiva in Israel. Eventually it was established and named Yeshiva Pachad Yitzchok
Yeshiva Pachad Yitzchok
Yeshiva Pachad Yitzchok is a yeshiva that was established in Jerusalem, Israel in the late 1970s by Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner. It is located in the Har Nof neighborhood...
, based on his life's work, in Har Nof
Har Nof
Har Nof is a neighborhood on a hillside on the western boundary of Jerusalem, Israel, with a population of 20,000 residents, primarily Orthodox Jews.-History:...
, Jerusalem. He died in 1980 and is buried in Jerusalem.
External links
- 20 years since his passing (PDF), ou.org
- Terror in Black September: An Eyewitness Account about 1970 hijacking mentioning Rabbi Hutner's captivity
- A master teaches his disciple about the value of small gestures
- Lecture on Rosh HaShana based on Rabbi Hutner's teachings
- Rabbi Hutner's Greatness in Torah and Worship