Powerful story! Rabbi J. B. Soloveitchik recalls his experience as a young boy in Cheder in Russia.

Recording of a powerful lecture from Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik about a formative experience as a young boy in cheder (grade school) with his Chabad melamed (teacher) in Belarus.
(Lincoln Square Synagogue, New York, May 28, 1975.)

This brilliant lecture allows you to hear how Rav Soloveitchik was such an inspiring and masterful speaker. (Tip: make sure the subtitles are on to pick up every word.)

Do You Have a Father?

יֶשׁ־לָנוּ אָב זָקֵן וְיֶלֶד זְקֻנִים קָטָן
"We have an old father." Are we conscious of our origins? Are we rooted in our people and traditions? Do we see this as the provider and sustainer of our existence?

"And a young, talented, bright child." Does our time-awareness encompass just the present, or the future as well? Does this awareness embrace just us and friends and family? Or does it embrace also generations unborn?

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Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveitchik (1903–1993), scion of a legendary rabbinic family, was renowned as a Talmudist and philosopher, and celebrated for his insightful synthesis of Torah ethos into the modern world.
As rosh yeshiva of Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary at Yeshiva University in New York City, Rav Soloveitchik ordained close to 2,000 rabbis over the course of half a century. He served as advisor, guide, mentor, and role-model for tens of thousands of Jews, both as a Talmudic scholar and as a religious leader.