47.0°,
Fair Review: Lonely Man of Faith
The Life and Legacy of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik
Issue of Nov. 28, 2008 / 1 Kislev 5769
To review a movie documentary of a great rav and poseik is a daunting experience. A reviewer is trained to see the downside as well as the good in a work; however, when the subject itself is a work of pure greatness and ideological perfection, the critic in me has to stand aside in awe. Oh, there are the little technical flaws, since this is after all a human documentary. Nevertheless, the subject matter is a precious history, a biography of a story and life never before presented in such a medium.
Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik’s role in defining not just Modern Orthodoxy, but also all Orthodoxy in America, is the focus of the film. Precious little is held back from the viewer: scenes from an early life in Europe, sharp observations and emotions, longings for a past that will never come back and a future that has yet to come. And, there are the American experiences, both in Boston, his home base, and New York, the home to his beloved Yeshiva University.
Though the narrative and the scenes move at a fast clip, the viewer does not feel rushed. Every fact and observation is given its due and purpose. Both the pride and the indignities of life are given full play. The Rav’s life was not always a charmed one and there are no attempts here to perfume history. His life is presented in full. Sharp among the low moments were the deaths of his parents, a brother and his beloved wife, Tonya, for whom he recited Kaddish for five years, so deep was his grief.
Having been denied the opportunity to deliver a eulogy at the funeral of his dear friend, Rav Aharon Kotler, sitting in the back of the shul during those proceedings, was an indignity to be rivaled only years later with a discourteous and rude obituary essay in The Jewish Observer. These actions will serve forever as a black mark upon American Jewish history.
This was the life of a great man, who lived it with a legacy in the American rabbinate that lives among us here on Long Island to this day in the learning and teachings of his students, Rabbi Hershel Billet, Rabbi Kenneth Hain, Rabbi Basil Herring, Rabbi Gilbert Klaperman, Rabbi Yitzchok Goodman, and honorary Five Towners Rabbi Herschel Shechter and Rabbi Mordechai Willig. No one can take that legacy away from the Rav, ever.
Kudos to director Ethan Isenberg, executive producer Marilyn Ness, writer Mike Dewitt, director of photography David Ford, editor Don Bernier and narrators Tova Feldshuh and Theodore Bikel.
The Young Israel of Woodmere hosted the first Long Island screening, co-sponsored by Cong. Bais Tefilah, Cong. Beth Sholom, Ohr Torah and the YI of North Woodmere.
If you missed it, catch the Dec. 18 screening at Great Neck Synagogue, 26 Old Mill Road, co-sponsored by Young Israel of Great Neck.
