The late Rabbi Joseph B Soloveitchik served as Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva University's Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Rabbinical College. He also served as communal Rabbi in Boston, Massachusetts. His book Halakhic Man contains several vignettes from the life of his grandfather, the illustrious Talmudist, Rabbi Hayyim Soloveitchik.

On page 91 of that work, while describing the "Halackhic Man, His World View and His Life", Rabbi Soloveitchik writes:

"...once R. Hayyim of Brisk was asked what the function of a rabbi is. R. Hayyim replied: "To redress the grievances of those who are abandoned and alone, to protect the dignity of the poor, and to save the oppressed from the hands of his oppressor." Neither ritual decisions nor political leadership constitutes the main task of halakhic man. Far from it. The actualization of the ideals of justice and righteousness is the pillar of fire which halakhic man follows, when he, as a rabbi and teacher in Israel, serves his community. More, through the implementation of the principles of righteousness, man fulfills the task of creation imposed upon him: the perfection of the world under the dominion of Halakhah and the renewal of the face of the creation."

May we all strive to achieve the lofty ideals that Rabbi Soloveitchik espouses in this passage, as we aspire to each become men and women of halacha, par excellence.

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Peretz Robinson