The loss of Rav Aharon Lichtenstein is a great tragedy. In the charedi days of my youth, I figured that he couldn't be a "real" talmid chacham - after all, he was clean-shaven and had studied English literature in university, whereas I had been taught that only exclusive Torah study produces real Gedolim. But then my horizons broadened, and I learned that many great Torah scholars had also studied other disciplines (and that several members of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah had also been to college!).
Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, zecher tzaddik l'vracha
Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, zecher tzaddik…
Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, zecher tzaddik l'vracha
The loss of Rav Aharon Lichtenstein is a great tragedy. In the charedi days of my youth, I figured that he couldn't be a "real" talmid chacham - after all, he was clean-shaven and had studied English literature in university, whereas I had been taught that only exclusive Torah study produces real Gedolim. But then my horizons broadened, and I learned that many great Torah scholars had also studied other disciplines (and that several members of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah had also been to college!).