Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik

Rabbi Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik (Hebrew: יצחק זאב 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 Rov ("rabbi of/from Brisk", (1886-1959), was a son of Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk. He is also commonly known as the "GRYZ", an acronym for " Gaon Rabbi Yitzchak Zev " ("genius Rabbi Isaac Wolf") and "The Rov".

He was the town rabbi of the Jewish community in Brisk and was the rosh yeshiva ("dean") of its "yeshiva". He fled the Holocaust and moved to the Palestine, where he re-established the Brisk Yeshiva in Israel. In Jerusalem he continued educating students as his father did, with what would come to be known as the "Brisker derech" (Yiddish: the "Brisk method" or "Brisk approach") of analyzing Talmud. This form of analysis stressed conceptual understanding combined with strict adherence to the text; it is also characterised by its emphasis on Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah. After his death, the yeshiva split, each son taking part of the following of the yeshiva.

The Brisker Rov was a leader of the Haredi community in Israel and advocated complete withdrawal of participation with the Israeli government, the secular ideals and values of which were, in his view, antithetical to the principals 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 Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum and disputed by Rabbi Elazar Shach.

Halakhic approach

The Brisker Rov was known for his stringency in halakha. 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. But this does not explain all of his stringencies.

For example, he is reputed to have observed a "second day" of Yom Tov in his home in Jerusalem. Normally, this second day is observed outside Israel, in memory of ancient times, when people far from Jerusalem would not hear about the declaration of the new month and would not know on which day to celebrate holidays. However, the Brisker Rov worried that while the messengers announcing the new month traveled from Jerusalem to the outskirts of Israel, they may not have passed by the exact place where he lived. Taking this possibility into account, he observed a second day of Yom Tov, just to be safe.

However, in one case the Brisker Rov surprised observers by not following a well-known stringency. Halakha says that on Sukkot, one is required to eat certain foods in a sukkah, and it is praiseworthy but not required that "all" eating and drinking to take place in the sukkah. However, the Brisker Rov was willing to eat and drink these foods outside the sukkah. From this it is apparent that all his other stringencies were not simply the result of extra devotion, but rather came from a conviction that halakha on its most basic level might in fact require those practices.

ee also

* Brisk yeshivas