by Rabbi David Weiss Halivni Z"L
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are that of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the Union for Traditional Judaism, unless otherwise indicated.
שלום (מתן) שלום presents Rav Halivni’s letters to Professor Uriel Tal in 1967, 1968, and and 1973.
Summary by Microsoft CoPilot: The article presents a series of letters exchanged between Rabbi Prof. David Weiss Halivni and Prof. Ariel Tal, written in the aftermath of the Six-Day War and during the broader ideological struggles of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
In these letters, Halivni reflects on the moral and theological challenges facing Israeli society, especially the tension between military necessity and ethical restraint. He expresses deep concern about the spiritual consequences of power, urging humility, self‑critique, and a commitment to justice even in moments of national triumph.
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Born in the Carpathian town of Kobyletska, Poliana, and raised in Sziget, Romania, Rav David Weiss Halvini is one of the world’s pre-eminent Talmudic scholars.
A child prodigy who received rabbinic ordination as a teenager, Rav Halivni was deported to Auschwitz during the Holocaust and soon transferred to a forced labor camp. Tragically, he was the only member of his family to survive. When he arrived in the United States at the age of 18, Rav Halivni was placed in a Jewish orphanage.
Shortly after, he was introduced to heralded Talmudist Rav Saul Lieberman at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Over the following decades, Rav Halivni would embark on his prodigious critical commentary of the Talmud in his multi-volume Mekorot u’Mesorot.
In the mid-1980s Rav Halivni and many of his fellow Traditionalists left JTS after the Seminary’s vote to ordain women as rabbis and founded the Union for Traditional Judaism, where Rav Halivni was appointed Reish Metiva of the Union’s rabbinical school and its Panel of Halakhic Inquiry.
Rabbi Halivni resides in Israel, where he teaches and continues to work on his magnum opus. In addition, he has authored several books, including the following:
Additional titles are available in the Viewpoints bookstore.
In 1985, Rav Halivni was a co-recipient of the prestigious Bialik Prize for Jewish Thought, and in 2008, he was awarded the Israel Prize for his Talmudic Work.
A number of videos of and regarding Rabbi Halivni can be found on the UTJ Youtube channel in the Rabbi Halivni playlist.
For more about Rav Halivni, go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Weiss_Halivni