Rabbi Shimon Yosef Meller rescues a rare photo of the Brisker Rav from a forgotten archive
Until now, the earliest image was a grainy picture of the Rav from more than a decade later in 1921, when as his father’s rabbinical successor he attended a meeting of the town leadership, which was attempting to regroup after the devastation of World War I.
The grandchildren of the Brisker Rav were also moved to see the other half of the marriage certificate, which contains a picture of their grandmother, who lost her life along with many members of the family in the Holocaust.
“These images are the equivalent of the footage of the Chofetz Chaim that emerged a few years ago, which caused a sensation across the Torah world,” Rabbi Meller says. “I got the same shiver when I saw them.”
Whether that comparison is borne out remains to be seen, but the very fact that it can be drawn at all testifies to the unique stature — indeed, mystique — that Brisk enjoys in the contemporary Torah world.
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