Corrections to Rav Soloveitchik Machzor

Dr. Arnold Lustiger sent me the following corrections to the Rav Soloveitchik Yom Kippur Machzor, that will be incorporated into the next printing.

Corrections to First Printing of the Mesoras Harav Yom Kippur Machzor

• A font problem resulted in a shva being used instead of dagesh everywhere a dagesh was to appear in a chaf sofit. Thus, for example, in Ashrei, one finds “bechol yom avercheka,” mistakenly appearing with a shva instead of a dagesh. This mistake appears in this word on pp. 6, 302, 506, 768 672, 760. Similarly: Vichuneka: pp. 36, 452, 672, 760, 832. Achaltzeka: 236, Asbi’eka: 236, Odeka: 276.


• The Kaddish response to “Shmei Dekudsha” should be “Brich Hu” not “Amen”: pp. 8,30,32,74,86,188,194,240, 276, 328, 548, 478, 514, 850.


• The introduction to the long vidui in two cases reads: “shetechaper lanu al kol chatoseinu, vetislach lanu al kol avonosenu, vesimchal lanu al kol pesha’einu”. This is the nusach sfard rendition. The nusach ashkenaz version should read: “shetislach lanu al kol chatoseinu, vesimchal lanu al kol avonoseinu, usechaper lanu al kol pesha’einu”. pp. 164, 654.


• Within Shemoneh Esrei, the Rav would add morid hatal after the words rav Lehoshia. The comment should appear as a footnote after the words rav lehoshia in each Shemoneh Esrei: pages. 10, 90, 358, 378, 516, 538, 706, 724, 778, 796, 852.


• p.43: Commentary 3 lines from bottom should read - Ribon Kol Ha’olamim.


• p.93: Due to objections by the Soloveitchik family, the anecdote in the commentary twelve lines down has been entirely removed in the second printing. To fill in the space and preserve the typesetting, additional commentary now appears on the words: “Ve’eimascha al kol mah shebarasa”, “Vayaasu kulam agudah achas”, and “Ve’olasah Tikpatz Piha” as follows (you need the David Font to read the Hebrew here) -
  

  ואימתך על כל מה שׁבראת - and Your dread upon all that You have created. The term אימה denotes a grisly horror, an irrational terror bordering on insanity. Mankind will experience a series of crises marked by complete insecurity and a constant feeling of doom (Noraot HaRav, Volume 15, p. 23).
  
  ויעשוּ כלם אגודה אחת לעשות רצונך - Let them all become a single society, to do Your will... - This feeling of imminent doom alone will lead to the ultimate realization of the Malchuyos vision, man’s universal acceptance of God’s Sovereignty. Man will redeem himself only after he is traumatized. God will confront man with the absurdity of his life, compelling him to recognize his pursuit of vanity, and only then will Hashem establish His kingdom (Noraot HaRav, Volume 15, pp. 23-24).
  
  וכל הרשׁעה כוּלה כעשׁן תכלה ועוֹלתה תקפץ פיה - Iniquity will close its mouth, and all wickedness will evaporate like smoke. Sometimes a man becomes so evil that he can no longer return to God. The Rambam writes (Hilchos Teshuvah 6:3), for example, that man can sometimes descend so deeply into the morass of evil that God will actually prevent him from reforming. Man at that point is doomed to total destruction. This prayer is thus a request for ביעוּר הרע - the erasure of evil. There is no description of repentance here, only of the extermination of evil. The prayer expresses the idea that evil and evildoers should be completely eradicated, and only then can man’s redemption come (Noraot HaRav, Volume 15, pp. 25-26).



• p.124: End parentheses three lines down in commentary: Shome’a Tefila


• p.135: Commentary: “Like someone who leads the prayer service”. No Italics.


• p.288: Commentary: Instead of “see commentary on Shabbas Shabbason, p. 544” on last line it should read “see essay on page xxvii”


• p.304, thirteen lines down: Correct to: “see commentary on Udvracha Emes Vekayam La’ad, p. 490”.


• p.317: Translation third line: “For He is exalted above the arrogant” should read, “For He is exceedingly exalted”. Change translation in commentary on p. 316 eight lines down as well.


• p. 638: Commentary: Remove the two sentences on the 2nd-3rd lines: “The formulations…are also different”.


• p.935: Bibliography: The book title “Service of the Heart” should be corrected to “Worship of the Heart”. (last two comments based on L. Kaplan comments)


• There was some criticism expressed regarding the terse statement under the Tefilah Lishlom Hamedina that “The Rav did not recite this prayer” (p. 493) because there was no further explanation. The comment will be modified to read, “The Rav did not recite this prayer, maintaining that contemporary man has no ability to properly compose prayer.” In the Rosh Hashanah Masoras Harav machzor, a reference is made to the “Hanhagos Harav” section with the following expanded explanation: “The Rav objected in general to the introduction into the service of new prayers not included in the traditional liturgy, noting that Chazal, well aware of the paradox inherent in insignificant man approaching God to pray for his comparatively trivial needs, were thus determined to confine the performance of prayer to rigid, standardized texts based upon Biblical sources (Community,Covenant and Commitment, p. 115). He stressed that man’s entire right to pray to God for anything is based upon the fact that the Bible is replete with examples of people praying and petitioning God for various needs, and their actions therefore serve as a precedent for us (Divrei Hashkafah, p. 122). Consequently, no ordinary person can have the temerity to compose his own formula of prayer, given that he lacks the necessary Ruach HaKodesh, the Divine inspiration, which the Biblical figures had. The Rav further explained that it is for this reason that the Gemara in Megillah (17a) points out that the אנשי כנסת הגדולה, the Men of the Great Assembly, who established the texts of our prayers and blessings (see Berachos 33a), included several prophets, because a level of Divine inspiration is necessary in order to properly fomulate prayers. The Rav stated that he was unimpressed with various prayer texts composed by contemporary authors (MiPeninei HaRav, pp. 127-128).”