Chaim Soloveitchik
Encyclopedia
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
and Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
ic scholar credited as the founder of the popular Brisker approach to Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
ic study within Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
. He was born in Volozhin in 1853, where his father, Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik
Yosef Dov Soloveitchik (Beis Halevi)
Yosef Dov Soloveitchik was the author of Beis Halevi, by which name he is better known among Talmudic scholars. He was the great-grandson of Rabbi Chaim Volozhin.-Early years:In his youth Yosef Dov lived in Brod. One anecdote illustrates his early mastery of rabbinic learning...
served as a lecturer in the famous Volozhiner Yeshiva. After a few years, his father was appointed as a Rav in Slutzk, where young Chaim was first educated. While still a youngster, his genius and lightning-quick grasp were widely recognized. Eventually, following many years as a senior lecturer in the renowned Volozhiner Yeshiva, he accepted a position as Rav of Brest, Belarus
Brest, Belarus
Brest , formerly also Brest-on-the-Bug and Brest-Litovsk , is a city in Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the city of Terespol, where the Bug River and Mukhavets rivers meet...
(Brisk in Yiddish), then in Imperial Russia, now in Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
. A member of the Soloveitchik-family rabbinical dynasty, he is commonly known as Reb Chaim Brisker ("Rabbi Chaim [from] Brisk").
He is considered the founder of the "Brisker method
Brisker method
The Brisker method, or Brisker derech, is a reductionistic approach to Talmud study innovated by Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk, as opposed to the traditional approach which was rather holistic. It has since become popular and spread to yeshivas around the world...
" (in Yiddish: Brisker derech; ), a method of highly exacting and analytical Talmudical study that focuses on precise definition/s and categorization/s of Jewish law as commanded in the Torah
Torah
Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...
with particular emphasis on the legal writings of Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
.
His primary work was Chiddushei Rabbeinu Chaim
Chiddushei Rabbeinu Chaim
Chiddushei Rabbeinu Chaim HaLevi Al-HaRambam is a volume of insights written by Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik on Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah, it also contains numerous novel understandings of the Talmud...
, a volume of insights on Maimonides' Mishnah Torah which often would suggest novel understandings of the Talmud as well. Based on his teachings and lectures, his students wrote down his insights on the Talmud known as Chiddushi HaGRaCh Al Shas
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
. This book is known as "Reb Chaim's stencils" and contains analytical insights into Talmudical topics.
He married the daughter of Rabbi Refael Shapiro
Refael Shapiro
Rabbi Refael Shapiro was the famed Rosh Yeshiva of the Volozhin yeshiva and a son-in-law of Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin . After the Volozhin yeshiva was closed down in 1892 by order of the Russian government, he reopened it, albeit on a smaller scale in 1899...
and had two famous sons, Rabbi Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik
Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik
Yitzchok Zev Halevi Soloveitchik , also known as Velvel Soloveitchik or as the Brisker Rov Yitzchok Zev Halevi Soloveitchik (Hebrew: יצחק זאב הלוי סולובייצ'יק), also known as Velvel Soloveitchik ("Zev" means "wolf" in Hebrew, and "Velvel" is the diminutive of "wolf" in Yiddish) or as the Brisker...
(also known as Rabbi Velvel Soloveitchik) who subsequently moved to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik
Moshe Soloveichik
Moshe Soloveitchik , was an Orthodox rabbi. He was the second son of renowned rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik and grandson of the Beis HaLevi. He married Pesya Feinstein, daughter of the renowned Rabbi of Pruzany, Rabbi Eliyahu Feinstein, and first cousins with Rabbi Moshe Feinstein.At the age of 31, he...
who moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and subsequently served as a Rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...
of Yeshiva Yitzchak Elchonon (YU/RIETS)
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary
Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary , or Yeshivat Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan, is the rabbinical seminary of Yeshiva University, located in Washington Heights, New York. It is named after Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor, who died the year it was founded, 1896...
in New York and who was in turn succeeded by his own son Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik (1903–1993). Rabbi Velvel 's sons, Rabbbis Yosef Dov, Meshulem Dovid, and Meir all head renowned Yeshivas in Jerusalem.
He had six main students; his sons Rabbi Moshe Soloveitchik and Rabbi Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik
Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik
Yitzchok Zev Halevi Soloveitchik , also known as Velvel Soloveitchik or as the Brisker Rov Yitzchok Zev Halevi Soloveitchik (Hebrew: יצחק זאב הלוי סולובייצ'יק), also known as Velvel Soloveitchik ("Zev" means "wolf" in Hebrew, and "Velvel" is the diminutive of "wolf" in Yiddish) or as the Brisker...
, Rabbi Baruch Ber Lebowitz
Baruch Ber Lebowitz
Boruch Ber Leibowitz Boruch Ber Leibowitz Boruch Ber Leibowitz (1864 - November 17, 1939 (5 Kislev, 5700) (Hebrew: ברוך בער ליבוביץ) was a main student of Rabbi Chaim Brisker and was famed for his Talmudic lectures....
, Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer
Isser Zalman Meltzer
Isser Zalman Meltzer, , was a famous Lithuanian Orthodox rabbi, rosh yeshiva and posek. He is also known as the "Even HaEzel" - the title of his commentary on Rambam's Mishne Torah....
, Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman
Elchonon Wasserman
Elchonon Wasserman was a prominent rabbi and rosh yeshiva in pre-World War II Europe. He was one of the Chofetz Chaim's closest disciples and a noted Torah scholar.-Biography:...
, and Rabbi Shimon Shkop
Shimon Shkop
Shimon Yehuda Hakohen Shkop was a rosh yeshiva in the Yeshiva Shaar Hatorah and in the Telshe yeshiva and a renowned Talmudic scholar. He was born in Torez in 1860. At the age of twelve he went to study in the Mir yeshiva, and at fifteen he went to Volozhin yeshiva where he studied six years...
.
A witty anecdote serves to illustrate how the three of them differed in their approaches and relation to their teacher: it is said that had Reb Chaim said, "This table is a cow," Rabbi Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik
Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik
Yitzchok Zev Halevi Soloveitchik , also known as Velvel Soloveitchik or as the Brisker Rov Yitzchok Zev Halevi Soloveitchik (Hebrew: יצחק זאב הלוי סולובייצ'יק), also known as Velvel Soloveitchik ("Zev" means "wolf" in Hebrew, and "Velvel" is the diminutive of "wolf" in Yiddish) or as the Brisker...
would say that the table had the same Talmudic laws as a cow, Rabbi Shimon Shkop
Shimon Shkop
Shimon Yehuda Hakohen Shkop was a rosh yeshiva in the Yeshiva Shaar Hatorah and in the Telshe yeshiva and a renowned Talmudic scholar. He was born in Torez in 1860. At the age of twelve he went to study in the Mir yeshiva, and at fifteen he went to Volozhin yeshiva where he studied six years...
would say the molecules in a table could be rearranged into a cow, but Rabbi Boruch Ber Leibowitz would attempt to milk the table.