Rav Aharon Soloveitchik zt"l
הרב אהרן בן משה סולובייצ'יק זצ"ל
Tishrei 17 , 5762
Rav Aharon Soloveitchik zt"l
Rav Ahron HaLevi Soloveichik, a scion of the great Soloveitchik family, son of Rav Moshe Soloveitchik, and grandson of Rav Chaim Soloveitchik, the famed Rosh Yeshiva of Volozhin and Rav of Brisk. Rav Ahron was born in Khaslavichy, a city in western Russia. When the communists invaded Khaslavichy in 1919, the Soloveitchiks escaped to Poland. As a young man Rav Ahron gained from such Torah giants as the Chafetz Chaim and the Imrei Emes. When the Soloveitchik’s moved to New York in 1928 with Rav Moshe assuming the position of Rosh Yeshiva in Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchonon, young Reb Ahron continued learning under the tutelage of his father who gave him semicha. He was taught English by Rav Avigdor Miller, who later would serve as the Mashgiach at Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin. In the early 1950s he became a magid shiur in Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin under the leadership of Rav Yitzchak Hutner. After the petira of his father in 1941, Reb Ahron lived in Washington Heights to aid his mother. In 1966, he came to Chicago as Rosh Yeshiva of Bais Medrash LaTorah, Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, a post he held until 1974. He eventually left that institution and started Yeshivas Brisk of Chicago. In 1983, a debilitating stroke left Rav Ahron partially paralyzed. His body racked with pain, his mind was still sharp and he continued his shiurim, despite tremendous physical difficulties. After the passing of his brother Rav Yosef Ber he would travel each week to Yeshiva Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan to give shiurim in his late brother’s stead. (1917-2001)