Rav Chaim Soloveitchik zt"l
הרב חיים בן יוסף דוב בער סולובייצ'יק זצ"ל
Av 21 , 5678
Rav Chaim Soloveitchik zt"l
Rav Chaim Soloveitchik of Volozhin and Brisk (1853-1918). Son of the Beis Halevi, Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, Rav Chaim was born in Volozhin, but moved with his family to Slutzk while still quite young, when his father became Rav of the city. When Rav Chaim was 20, he married Lifsha, the daughter of Rav Raphael Shapira, the son-in-law of the Netziv. Since Rav Raphael was a rosh mesivta in Volozhin, Rav Chaim moved there. When Rav Raphael moved away, Rav Chaim took the post of rosh mesivta Volozhin in 1880. In 1892, following the closing of the Volozhin yeshivah, Rav Chaim moved to Brisk where he succeeded his father as the community Rav. Rav Chaim is buried next to the Netziv in the Jewish cemetery in Warsaw. His oldest son was Rav Moshe, who was the father of Rav Yosef Dov and Rav Ahron Soleveitchik. His other famous son was Rav Yitzchak Zev (the “GRIZ”), also known as Reb Velvel, the Brisker Rav of Yerushalayim.
Stories of Rav Chaim Soloveitchik zt"l
Once, Rav Chaim was sitting at a gathering of Torah scholars and shared a Torah thought. One of the audience argued that a certain Tosafos said something that seemed to argue against what Rav Chaim had said. Rav Chaim responded: “Tosafos do not say such a thing.” The relevant blatt Gemara was opened and validated Rav Chaim's shita. After a moment he remarked, “Do you all think that I am fluent in every single Tosafos, even knowing what isn't written? No. But I understand that it would be impossible for Tosafos to say what he claimed they say.”
(Ishim Veshitos pages 33 - 35 as told by Rav Meir Berlin)
Rav Shapira related how when the Griz HaLevi Soloveitchik came before the draft board and he was worried that he would be drafted into army service, his father Rav Chaim ordered him to use this segula from the Nefesh haChaim. He also told in the name of Brisker Rav that when he escaped from Warsaw during the second World War and the Nazis may their names be blotted had already conquered half Poland, and all the ways and roads were swarming with the Nazi murderers he constantly concentrated on this segula non stop. When for one moment he had a momentary lapse of concentration, a wicked Nazi attacked them, immediately he resumed his focus on the segula of the Nefesh HaChaim and they were saved. (Yalkut Lekach tov Devarim 4:35)
It is said that Rav Chaim Brisker was a Ba’al Chessed of unimaginable greatness, but this part of his character was overshadowed by his genius. The Chofetz Chaim was a Ga’on BaTorah beyond comprehension but this Gadlus was overshadowed by his character.
His house was open to the public and people would make themselves at home as if they owned the place. At times Rav Chaim would not go to sleep because someone was in his bed. The Brisker Rav said that his father's home was much worse than a Reshus HoRabbim (public area). If you made your bed in the street, the authorities would come and take it away. In his father's house, there were no rules and people did whatever they wanted.
In 1895, after a fire destroyed many homes in Brisk, Rav Chaim slept on the floor in the hallway of the shul and, despite the pleas of his family, refused to sleep in his home when so many Yehudim did not have a roof over their heads.
Rav Chaim hated money and when it came into his hands, he made sure it did not remain in his possession very long, certainly not overnight. His family would hide any money they had in the house. At some point, the Kehilla of Brisk stopped giving him his paycheck and gave it only to his wife, because he would disburse it immediately to the poor.
To describe his Chessed is impossible. To try to describe his Torah is downright chutzpa. We will share one story that gives a glimpse of how he felt about Kevod HaTorah. One Motzo’ei Shabbos, after spending many hours dictating twelve pages of chiddushim into the wee hours of the morning to one of the shochtim in Brisk who would write for him, he stopped and reached out for the papers and tore them into shreds, declaring, "False Torah cannot exist. The world only needs authentic Torah!"
Rav Chaim Brisker was an incredible Ba'al Chessed. His home was totally hefker to all those who wanted to enter. People ate his food, took away his seforim, and even slept in his bed, leaving him nowhere to sleep some nights. His concern for others was so great that it didn't dawn on anyone that they were inconveniencing him – and they probably weren't. His house was the local “hangout” for anyone who had nowhere to go.
Someone once asked why he had a door on his house if it performed no function whatsoever, since it was always open. The answer was obvious. According to one Dei'a (opinion), in order to put a Mezuza in a doorway, it needs a to have a door. The door is there just to make sure that the Mezuza is 100 percent L'Chat’chila. Why else would someone have a door?
http://revach.net/stories/gadlus/Rav-Chaim-Soloveitchiks-Brisker-Door/4259
In the home of Rav Chaim Soloveitchik, everything was hefker. Anyone off the street could come in and take whatever they wanted and no one in the family was allowed to utter a single word. Families would sometimes come in and take a room for themselves and no one would say anything.
His son, the Brisker Rav, said that he once came to his own bed at night and found someone lying in it. He had no place to sleep that night but didn't say anything to anyone about it.
Rav Dovid Soloveitchik, Shlit’a, said that one time his father, the Brisker Rav, was writing a D’var Torah that his father Rav Chaim had told him to write for him. As he was in middle of writing, a schlepper barged in from the street and asked the Brisker Rav for the pen. The Brisker Rav told him he would give it to him in a minute when he had finished writing. When Rav Chaim heard this, he screamed, "What is going on here that we don't lend our pens...?!" (Holchei Nesivos – Middos Tovos)
http://revach.net/stories/gadlus/Rav-Chaim-Soloveitchiks-Demands/4941
One time Rav Chaim Soloveitchik paid a visit to his elderly cousin. When he walked into the house, a button fell off his coat. His cousin quickly took out some thread and sewed the button back on while Rav Chaim was wearing the coat, which is said to make someone forget his Torah. Rav Chaim then employed the known antidote and took the edge of the collar and put it in his mouth.
Puzzled, Rav Chaim's cousin said to him, do you really believe in these Bubba Meises? Rav Chaim answered that when it comes to anything to do with forgetting Torah he doesn't play around – and he even takes Bubba Meises very seriously. (Dirshu Chizuk)
http://revach.net/avodah/olam-hatorah/Rav-Chaim-Brisker-Heeds-The-Bubba-Meisa/3891
A person who closes his Gemora because he must perform a Chessed is considered to have his Gemora still open. A person who opens his Gemora to avoid doing a Chessed is considered to have his Gemora still closed. - Rav Chaim Brisker
http://revach.net/daily-headline/headline/Rav-Chaim-on-Chesed/5097
Segulos of Rav Chaim Soloveitchik zt"l
Rav Shapira related how when the Griz HaLevi Soloveitchik came before the draft board and he was worried that he would be drafted into army service, his father Rav Chaim ordered him to use this segula from the Nefesh haChaim. He also told in the name of Brisker Rav that when he escaped from Warsaw during the second World War and the Nazis may their names be blotted had already conquered half Poland, and all the ways and roads were swarming with the Nazi murderers he constantly concentrated on this segula non stop. When for one moment he had a momentary lapse of concentration, a wicked Nazi attacked them, immediately he resumed his focus on the segula of the Nefesh HaChaim and they were saved. (Yalkut Lekach tov Devarim 4:35)