He is also known as the Gra"ch (
Hebrew: גר״ח), an abbreviation of "HaGaon Reb Chaim."
Biography
Soloveitchik was born in
Volozhin on March 25, 1853, where his father, Rabbi
Yosef Dov Soloveitchik was a lecturer in the
Volozhiner Yeshiva.[1] The family moving away from Volozhin.[2] and after a few years his father was appointed as a rabbi in
Slutsk, where Chaim was first educated.[3]
He joined the faculty of the Volozhiner Yeshiva in 1880, and later became assistant rosh yeshiva[2] for a short time, until the
Russian Empire forced the yeshiva to close, when he moved to
Brisk, Belarus and succeeded his father as the rabbi there.[3][4]
He died on July 30, 1918 after seeking medical treatment in
Warsaw and was buried in the
Jewish Cemetery there.[5][6]
Works
He is considered the founder of the "
Brisker method" (in
Yiddish: Brisker derech;
Hebrew: derekh brisk), 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.[7] His works would have particular emphasis on the legal writings of
Maimonides.[8][9]
Soloveitchik's primary work was Chiddushei Rabbeinu Chaim, a volume of insights on Maimonides' Mishneh Torah which often would suggest novel understandings of the Talmud as well.[10] Based on his teachings and lectures, his students wrote down his insights on the Talmud known as Chiddushi HaGRaCh Al
Shas. This book is known as "Reb Chaim's stencils" and contains analytical insights into Talmudic topics.
Views
Soloveitchik worked with
Sholom Dovber Schneersohn, the fifth
rebbe of the
hasidic dynasty of
Lubavitch, in counteracting antisemitic decrees by the czarist regime.[8][11] He expanded the definition of who represented
Amalek, claiming that all who sought to destroy the Jewish people were ideological descendants of the Jewish enemy.[12]
Soloveitchik was an opponent of Zionism and viewed it as a movement to destroy traditional Judaism and replace it with nationalism.[13]
He married the daughter of
Refael Shapiro, who was also the granddaughter of Berlin.[2] Reb Chaim had four children, R. Yisrael Gershon, R. Moshe, Sara (Glickson), and R.
Yitchak Zev (also known as Rabbi Velvel Soloveitchik). R. Moshe moved to the United States and subsequently served as a rosh yeshiva of
Yeshiva Yitzchak Elchonon (YU/RIETS) in New York and who was in turn succeeded by his sons
Joseph B. Soloveitchik (1903–1993) and
Ahron Soloveichik (1917-2001). R. Yitzchak Zev moved to
Israel and his sons led prominent yeshivas.[14]