The History of the Tosafists and their Literary Corpus According to Rav Soloveitchik's Interpretations of the Qinot for Tishah B'av

Abstract

Although Rav Soloveitchik was well aware of the events of his day and of important events from both the Jewish past and from the broader history of the world, he evinced little interest, at least in his· published works and public lectures, in pursuing the details of history with any depth. Historical events were sometimes used to flavor his discourses, but his main interaction with them (and with histqrical theory more broadly) was to incorporate them into his philosophical and theological teachings and categories, in order to learn from them about the human condition and obligations, in both the halakhic and philosophical realms.'