Perpetuating the Masorah

This volume is a collection of essays on aggadic, halakhic, ethical, and spiritual themes by Rabbi Professor Yitzhak Twersky (1930–1997), the Talner Rebbe, dedicated to the memory of his father-in-law, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik. An important question for Jews in our time revolves around our relationship to the masorah – the Jewish tradition of the Written and Oral Law revealed at Sinai, and interpreted and elaborated upon throughout the generations. How do we, in today’s world, give a place of preeminence to the observance of Jewish law and the intellectual demands of its study, and at the same time embrace religious spirituality, and moral and ethical living? How can we ensure that the masorah is perpetuated and continues to remain relevant? These questions lie at the heart of the essays in this volume, which originated as shiurim delivered by Rabbi Twersky. Adapted from R. Twersky's speeches by Carmi Horowitz and Dovid Shapiro, both devoted talmidim of Prof. Twersky.