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Concept
Chaim Soloveitchik
Summary
Chaim (Halevi) Soloveitchik (Yiddish: חיים סאָלאָווייטשיק, Chaim Sołowiejczyk), also known as Reb Chaim Brisker (1853 – 30 July 1918), was a rabbi and Talmudic scholar credited as the founder of the popular Brisker approach to Talmudic study within Judaism. He is also a member of the Soloveitchik dynasty, as the son of the Beis HaLevi.
He is also known as the Gra"ch (Hebrew: גר״ח), an abbreviation of "HaGaon Reb Chaim."
Rabbi Soloveitchik was born in Volozhin on March 25, 1853, where his father, Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik served as a lecturer in the famous Volozhiner Yeshiva. Prior to his birth, Rabbi Soloveitchik's father was passed for the position of Rosh yeshiva at the Volozhiner Yeshiva, in favor of Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin in 1854, ultimately resulting in their family moving away from Volozhin. After a few years, his father was appointed as a rabbi in Slutzk, where young Chaim was first educated. While still a youngster, his genius and lightning-quick grasp were widely recognized.
Despite Rabbi Soloveitchik's father leaving the yeshiva, Rabbi Berlin would request that Rabbi Soloveitchik return as a member of the faculty of the Yeshiva in 1880, later requesting that he become assistant Rosh yeshiva alongside him. This would not last long, however, as the Russian Empire forced the yeshiva to close, resulting in Rabbi Soloveitchik moving to Brisk, Belarus and succeeding his father as the rabbi of Brisk.
Rabbi Soloveitchik was buried in Warsaw, in the Jewish Cemetery, having died on July 30, 1918 after seeking medical treatment in that area.
He is considered the founder of the "Brisker method" (in Yiddish: Brisker derech; 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. His works would have particular emphasis on the legal writings of Maimonides.
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.
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