Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik

Rabbi Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik
יצחק זאב סולובייצ'יק‎
Title	The Brisker Rav
Personal life
Born	Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik 19 October 1886 Wołożyn, Vistula Land
Died	11 October 1959(1959-10-11) (aged 72) Jerusalem
Spouse	Alte Hendl Auerbach
Children	Freidel (1913–1919) Berel (Yosef Dov) Lifsha (married Rabbi Yechiel Michel Feinstein) Chaim Meshulam Dovid Soloveitchik Boruch Refoel Yehoshua Soloveitchik Gittel Sara Rascha (1926–1942) Meir Feige Tzirel (1931–1932) Rivka (married Rabbi Yaakov Schiff) Naftali Tzvi Yehudah Leib Shmuel Yaakov
Parent(s)	Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik and Lifsha Shapira
Occupation	Rabbi
Religious life
Religion	Judaism
Denomination	Orthodox Judaism

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 the Brisker Rov ("rabbi of/from Brisk", (19 October 1886 – 11 October 1959), was an Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva of the Brisk yeshiva in Jerusalem.

A scion of the Soloveitchik rabbinical dynasty, he is commonly referred to as the "GRY"Z" (an acronym for Gaon Rabbi Yitzchok Zev) and "The Rov". He was known for his stringency in halakha (Jewish law) and advocacy for non-participation in the Israeli political system.

Biography

Soloveitchik (before 1920)

Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik was born to Chaim Soloveitchik in Valozhyn. On his mother's side, he was the grandson of Refael Shapiro, a rosh yeshiva in the Volozhin yeshiva.

Soloveitchik moved with his family the Jewish community of Brisk after the czarist government closed the Volozhin yeshiva. He would succeed his father as a rabbi of Brisk and leader of Judaic studies in his region.

After fleeing the Holocaust and moving to indigenous Israel, he re-established the Brisk yeshiva in Jerusalem, where he continued to educate students the way his father did. That system would become known as the Brisker method of studying the Talmud, a form of analysis stressing conceptual understanding combined with strict adherence to the text, with a special emphasis on Maimonides’ work, the Mishneh Torah.

Soloveitchik was a leader of the Haredi community in Israel. He advocated complete withdrawal of participation in the government, the secular ideals and values of which were, in his view, antithetical to the principles of Orthodox Judaism. He went as far as opposing the reliance on government funding in support of yeshivas and other Torah institutions. This viewpoint was supported by Joel Teitelbaum but disputed by Elazar Shach.

After Soloveitchik's death in 1959, his son Rabbi Berel took over his father's position as rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Brisk. Two of his other sons, Rabbi Meshulam Dovid and Rabbi Meir Soloveitchik, established their own yeshivas, each teaching their own students in accordance with their father's approach.

Halakhic approach

From left to right... 3 in the middle... Rav Menachem Ziemba, the Brisker Rav, Rav Yaakov Nayaman

Soloveichik was known for his stringency in halakha (Jewish law). This partly stems from his use of the Brisker method of study, in which laws are broken down into precise components, which can then be assembled into new combinations, creating novel halachic possibilities which perhaps a person should be strict to follow or avoid. This, however, does not explain all of his stringencies.

Soloveitchik (second from left) in Jerusalem

He is reputed to have observed Yom tov sheni shel galuyot (a second day of Yom Tov) in Jerusalem. The practice is normally reserved only for areas outside the Holy Land as a memory for ancient times, when people far from Jerusalem would not hear about the declaration of the new month, and by extension would not know on which day to celebrate the holidays. Soloveitchik's concern revolved around the possibility that the messengers who announced the new month may not have passed by the exact place where he lived in Jerusalem on their way to the Jewish diaspora. Taking this possibility into account, he observed a second day, just to be safe.

In one case, Soloveitchik surprised observers by not following a well-known stringency. Halakha states that on Sukkot, one is required to eat certain foods in a sukkah. It is praiseworthy, but not required, that all eating and drinking take place in the sukkah. Soloveitchik was willing to eat and drink certain foods outside the sukkah, explaining that he is only stringent in areas where there is a chance that the stringency might be required by the halakha, whereas in this case, the halakhic permissiveness is unquestionable. Soloveitchik was very careful when speaking to not recite from memory rather he would read all his sources from their original works. Even though he knew them by heart, this comes from the Brisker commitment to truth.

Brisker rabbinic dynasty

Brisker family tree
Rabbanit Esti Rosenberg, director of Migdal Oz (seminary) Rabbi Yitzchok Lichtenstein, Co-Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Torah Vodaas; Rabbi Bais Avrohom, Monsey, NY Rabbi Yosef Dov (Reb Berel) Soloveichik Rabbi Avrohom Yehoshua Soloveichik Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein, Co-Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion Rabbi Meshulam Dovid (Reb Dovid) Soloveichik Rabbi Yitzchak Zev Soloveichik Rabbi Mayer Lichtenstein, Rabbi Ohel Menachem Bet Shemesh Rabbi Yosef Dov (HaLevi) Soloveichik author of Beis HaLevi Rabbi Chaim Soloveichik "Reb Chaim Brisker" Rabbi Yitzchak Zev (Reb Velvel) Soloveichik "The GRIZ" The Brisker Rov Lifsha Soloveitchik Feinstein Dr. Tovah Soloveitchik Lichtenstein Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt Rabbi Refael Shapiro, Rosh Yeshiva of Volozhin yeshiva Lifsha Shapiro Rabbi Refoel Soloveichik Rabbi Dr. Aharon Lichtenstein Tzipporah Rosenblatt Rabbi Meir Soloveichik Dr. Atarah Soloveitchik Twersky Rabbi Mosheh Twersky z"l, Maggid Shiur at Yeshiva Toras Moshe Rabbi Dr. Joseph B. (Yosef Dov) Soloveitchik "The Rav" Rabbi Dr. Isadore Twersky, Talner Rebbe of Boston Rabbi Mayer Twersky, Rosh Yeshiva at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik Rabbi Dr. Haym Soloveitchik Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik, Rosh Yeshivas Brisk (Chicago); Rav of Kehilas Beth Sholom Ahavas Achim Peshka Feinstein Soloveichik Dr. Samuel Soloveichik Rabbi Eliyahu Soloveichik, Rosh Yeshiva at Lander College's Beis Medrash L'Talmud Rabbi Meir Yaakov Soloveichik Shulamit Soloveitchik Meiselman Rabbi Moshe Meiselman, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Toras Moshe Rabbi Yosef Soloveichik Sarah Orenshein Anne Soloveitchik Gerber Rabbi Chayim Soloveichik, Maggid Shiur at Yeshivat Reishit; Morah D’Asrah of Kehillat Ohr Shalom, Ramat Beit Shemesh Moshe Soloveichik Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveichik Rabbi Shmuel Chaim Soloveichik Rabbi Yitzchok Soloveichik Rabbi Yisroel Soloveichik Rabbi Yisroel Gershon Soloveichik Rabbi Moshe Soloveichik Rabbi Boruch Soloveichik Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Soloveichik Daughter Soloveichik
Notes: Rabbi Chaim Halevi Soloveichik (the second)

See also

• Yehoshua Leib Diskin, another Jewish leader known as the "rabbi from Brisk"
• Naftali Rothenberg, Yair Halevi, ‘’’The Rabbi of Brisk: Rabbi Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik’’’, in: Benjamin Brown, Nissim Leon, eds. The Gdoilim – Leaders Who Shaped the Israeli Haredi Jewry, Magnes Hebrew University Press, 2017, (Hebrew)