A video of a 45 minute portion of a teshuva drasha delivered by Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, zt”l, will be screened at Torah New York, the Orthodox Union’s premiere public event, expected to draw over 2,500 to CitiField in Queens, New York on September 22. The drasha, delivered in Yiddish, was subtitled in English and prepared for public showing by Dr. Arnold Lustiger.

Lustiger says that this screening is a unique event and a rare opportunity for the Orthodox community. According to Lustiger, “although many books have been written summarizing the Rav’s Torah, actually seeing the Rav’s dramatic delivery adds immeasurably to an appreciation of his uniqueness. The combination of charisma and gadlus emanates from every frame of the video.”

The nearly four hour long drasha was originally presented on September 30, 1976, to a crowd of over 2,000. While his other drashas generally concentrated on one extended theme, in this particular teshuva drasha, the Rav discussed at least eight different topics. As a result, the 45 minute segment is self-contained and can be understood without hearing the remainder of the drasha.

Lustiger will make the entire subtitled video available to synagogues that agree to host a public showing of the drasha after the Torah New York event (on Motzei Shabbos Shuva, for example). Because the drasha covers various subjects, it can be divided into shorter segments. Lustiger can be reached at [email protected].

Lustiger has written numerous books summarizing the lectures and ideas of the Rav. He is the editor of the “Chumash Mesoras Harav,” a Chumash with commentary based on the Rav’s teachings as well as the “Machzor Mesoras Harav” for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Previously, he had published “Before Hashem You Shall be Purified: Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik on the Days of Awe,” which he is presently expanding, to be reprinted in time for the Yamim Noraim next year.