Straus Center Hosts Acclaimed Churchill Biographer
May 13, 2019 By: mbrennan
Dr. Rabbi Meir Soloveichik discusses Churchill, Walking with Destiny with Andrew Roberts
On Monday, May 6, 2019, more than 350 students and supporters of the Zahava and Moshael Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought gathered at Congregation Shearith Israel on the Upper West Side of Manhattan to explore the life and legacy of one of the titanic figures who defended liberal democracy from the spread of fascism, Winston Churchill.
The program was the latest installment of the Straus Center鈥檚 鈥淕reat Conversations鈥 series in which the Center鈥檚 director, Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik, engages authors and scholars in discussions about the ideas and values of their work and their broad relevance to modern Jewish life.
Andrew Roberts joined Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik for an hour-long interview about Churchill, Walking with Destiny, his biography of what many historians consider the greatest statesman of the 20th century.
(l-r): Andrews Roberts and Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik
Their talk touched upon a host of topics from the author鈥檚 decision to pen a Churchill biography鈥攖o date more than a 1,000 have been published鈥攖o the late prime minister鈥檚 views on religion, his American heritage, nationalism and Zionism.
In his opening remarks, Dr. Soloveichik quoted a passage from Roberts鈥 biography in which a 16-year-old Churchill confided to a friend that he envisioned a distant future in which he would save England from a tremendous invasion. 鈥淚f most teenagers were to speak with such conviction, we would diagnose them as clinical megalomaniacs. Or fantasists. The only difference is that with Churchill his predictions actually came true,鈥 noted Rabbi Soloveichik. 鈥淪o what does that say about his character, personality and role of destiny in his life?鈥
鈥淚t is absolutely essential to understanding Churchill that he had this driving personal sense of destiny,鈥 noted Roberts 鈥渁nd it never ended, even in the great reversals of fortune he experienced. Ultimately, he believed that one day he would save England. It was a destiny that he had consciously spent a lifetime shaping. Churchill learned from his mistakes and put those lessons to use during civilization鈥檚 鈥榤ost testing hour.鈥欌
When asked why he decided to write a biography on Churchill, Roberts noted a 鈥渃ornucopia of new sources鈥 that had been made available in recent years. These include King George VI鈥檚 diary records of his weekly audiences with Churchill during the World War II, verbatim reports of the War Cabinet meetings over which Churchill presided and 41 sets of papers added to the Churchill Archives in Cambridge, all of which have never been used by a historian before and which shed new light on Churchill鈥檚 thinking during the war years.
鈥淲hat all these sources show us,鈥 said Roberts 鈥渋s a man of passion, a romantic figure driven to achieve greatness by his love of the British empire and his deep sense of history.鈥
On May 22, The Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought, the International Center for Law and Religion Studies of BYU, and the J. Reuben Clark Law Society will co-present 鈥淭he Media and Religion: Trends and Challenges.鈥
(l-r): Andrews Roberts and Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik
When asked why he decided to write a biography on Churchill, Roberts noted a 鈥渃ornucopia of new sources鈥 that had been made available in recent years. These include King George VI鈥檚 diary records of his weekly audiences with Churchill during the World War II, verbatim reports of the War Cabinet meetings over which Churchill presided and 41 sets of papers added to the Churchill Archives in Cambridge, all of which have never been used by a historian before and which shed new light on Churchill鈥檚 thinking during the war years.
鈥淲hat all these sources show us,鈥 said Roberts 鈥渋s a man of passion, a romantic figure driven to achieve greatness by his love of the British empire and his deep sense of history.鈥
On May 22, The Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought, the International Center for Law and Religion Studies of BYU, and the J. Reuben Clark Law Society will co-present 鈥淭he Media and Religion: Trends and Challenges.鈥 
