(Courtesy of OU Press) Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik (the Rav) was the towering rabbinic figure of the 20th century. In addition to his wellspring of Torah knowledge, the Rav taught, wrote and lectured extensively on the Chumash. The Rav, however, never wrote a systematic commentary on Chumash, and, until now, the only way to study his interpretation and analysis of Chumash was to search for pertinent material by wading through the Rav’s published writings and hard-to-find audio tapes of his lectures and shiurim in both Yiddish and English. Dr. Arnold Lustiger of Edison, New Jersey, has collected the Rav’s teachings on Chumash from over 50 published books in Hebrew and English, hundreds of audio tapes and thousands of pages of personal notes from the Rav’s students, incorporating them into the Chumash Mesoras Harav, published by OU Press.

Dr. Lustiger, who was also the editor of the Machzor Mesoras Harav for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, recounts that in 1973 he was a sophomore studying materials engineering when the Rav was invited to deliver a Faculty Colloquium at the University of Pennsylvania. In that lecture, the Rav explained the idea behind juxtaposing geulah and tefillah, redemption and prayer, interrelating halachah, psychology and Platonic ontology. Inspired by his encounter with the Rav, he edited his first book, “Before Hashem You Shall Be Purified,” based on the Rav’s Yiddish teshuvah drashot. He subsequently published other summaries and adapted commentaries of the Rav, culminating in the recent publication of Chumash Mesoras Harav, whose final volume on Sefer Devarim was published a few weeks ago.

Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, director of Interfaith Affairs of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, writes: “Because Dr. Lustiger did not hail from YU, he has been able to sit out the internecine battles between those who claim to know the true Rav Soloveitchik. He, therefore, does not have to choose between the Rav as Talmudist, philosopher, darshan, translator of R. Chaim into the lingua franca of America, or trailblazer of a new path. Dr. Lustiger finds pieces that show all the variegated strands in Rav Soloveitchik’s personality and brings them together in this Chumash.” Rabbi Gil Student, a regular columnist for the Jewish Link of New Jersey, wrote in Jewish Action: “This groundbreaking Chumash reflects the Rav’s intellectual breadth and depth, his exegetical creativity and the timelessness of his insights. Complete with an English translation of the Torah text, Rashi’s commentary and an eloquent and original Torah commentary, the Chumash Mesoras Harav is perfect for synagogue, home and school use.“

The Chumash Mesoras Harav is available through ou.org/oupress, and at local Jewish bookstores.