On Monday, April 20th, the world lost a Torah giant with the passing of Rav Aharon Lichtenstein. Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion, located in the Etzion bloc south of Jerusalem, he was the leading figure of Modern Orthodoxy in Israel. Rav Lichtenstein leaves behind a tremendous legacy, recognized most recently through his receiving of the Israel Prize for Jewish Religious Literature in 2014. Both those who personally knew and learned from the Rosh Yeshiva, and those who heard of his greatness, mourn the loss of the influential educator and thinker.
Rav Lichtenstein was born in Paris in 1933, the same year that Hitler and the Nazi Party rose to power in Germany. Eight years later, he and his family fled from Vichy, France to Baltimore, Maryland, where he was quickly recognized as a prodigy of traditional learning. Eventually, his family ended up in New York, where he attended Yeshiva University as an undergraduate student and received his rabbinic ordination. Following his schooling at YU, Rav Lichtenstein pursued a doctorate in English Literature at Harvard University in Boston, where he was able to learn closely with the Rosh Yeshiva of YU, and his future father-in-law, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik.
Following the culmination of his education, Rav Lichtenstein returned to Yeshiva University in two capacities: He taught English Literature on the women’s campus downtown and became overseer of the YU Kollel, which at that time only met at night. Later, he began to teach a daily shiur at the Yeshiva in Washington Heights.
Many people are unaware that Rav Lichtenstein taught literature courses in Stern. During this period of time, it was not common for a rabbi to teach a secular course, let alone on the women’s campus. However, it was a career choice that was completely reflective of his life view and moral vision. Rav Lichtenstein did not see his two roles and the two subjects in which he was immersed as being in conflict with one another. Rather, he fully believed in the Yeshiva University philosophy of Torah U’ Madda, the philosophy that secular subjects, in addition to Torah, have their own integral value and also enhance Judaic learning.
Rav Lichtenstein garnered much admiration as a rabbinic figure in America, and was well on his way to being made a Rosh Yeshiva at YU. However, in 1971 he was approached by Rav Yehudah Amital, who offered him the position of co- Rosh Yeshiva of a new yeshiva on a mountaintop in Gush Etzion. Although he knew he would be an influential Rosh Yeshiva if he were to stay at RIETS, Rav Lichtenstein accepted the position out of his desire to spread Torah in the land of Israel. Under the joint leadership of Rav Lichtenstein and Rav Amital, Yeshivat Har Etzion evolved and has become one of the leading hesder yeshivot in Israel today.
As we reflect upon his enormous achievements in the midst of this tragedy, it must be noted that Rav Lichtenstein’s life and teachings have influenced our lives as students of Stern College, even if we did not learn directly under him. Stern College students in particular can feel Rav Lichtenstein’s influence whether they are sitting in the Beit Midrash or immersed in Judaic studies and classes. Rav Lichtenstein was a staunch supporter of women’s learning. For example, Rav Lichtenstein was the most vocal initial supporter of the founding of Migdal Oz, the beit midrash for women of Yeshivat Har Etzion. Dr. Shmuel Wygoda, one of the founders of Migdal Oz, often tells the story of when he approached Rav Amital and Rav Lichtenstein to open a yeshiva for women. Rav Amital said, “If you raise the money, we’ll support you,” and Rav Lichtenstein said, “I have to think about it, I’ll get back to you.” Three days later, Dr. Wygoda received a call from Rav Lichtenstein who said, “This must happen. Let us give it the character it deserves.” He knew there a need for women to have a voice in Torah, even if the initial finances for the venture had to come from the yeshiva.
Rav Lichtenstein again illustrated his advocacy for advances in Torah learning opportunities for women at the Chanukat HaBayit of the Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls in Teaneck. Rav Lichtenstein spoke at length about the importance of serious Torah learning for women from two perspectives: the value of being marbitz torah (spreading Torah), and extended opportunities out of respect for women.
Rav Lichtenstein learned with his daughters (one of whom, Esti Rosenberg, is the founder and Rosh Beit HaMidrash of Migdal Oz, and the other teaches Gemara at a midrasha in Yerucham) and taught the women at Migdal Oz for many years. His support and validation of this cause carried much significance and influence on women’s learning in the Modern Orthodox community in the United States.
Perhaps above all of the major influences Rav Lichtenstein had on the world of Torah learning, his fine middot leave an impactful mark on his legacy. Despite his incredible intelligence, he was known to never talk down to anyone, and though he believed in his convictions and decisions, he always allowed and encouraged other rabbis to challenge him. His humility has been the recurring quality that has been emphasized in numerous speeches and articles written about him since his passing.
On Tuesday morning, April 21st, thousands of people gathered inside and around the yeshiva to pay their respects, and hundreds have paid their respects to the Lichtenstein family since. Moving eulogies were delivered both at the funeral and in other Torah institutions around the world, Yeshiva University included. Programs were held on both campuses where eulogies were given by rabbis who had the immense privilege to have learned directly from Rav Lichtenstein.
In the wake of his passing, the weight of the loss of Rav Lichtenstein has been felt by many YU students. Jennifer van Amerongan, a sophomore at Stern College and a past student of Migdal Oz, said, “Though I didn’t have a personal connection with Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, I was very shaken and upset when I heard about his passing. I owe a large part of my Talmud Torah to Rav Aharon. I have immense gratitude towards my teachers who were his talmidim and talmidot, to his insightful articles and books that I have read, and gratitude towards his influence in creating the institution [of Migdal Oz] where I was afforded the opportunity to learn on a serious level.”
Professor Smadar Rosensweig, whose husband Rabbi Michael Rosensweig was a student of Rav Lichtenstein, expressed her feelings that with the loss of such a giant in our community comes the end of an era. She explained how his incredible legacy is so applicable to students at YU in that he impacted our community through his belief in Torah U’Madda, and through his example that it is possible to live a serious torah life while rising to the challenges of the outside culture and world.
Through looking to Rav Lichtestein’s legacy and example, we should merit to rise to these challenges as well.
יהי זכרו ברוך