Rav Meir Soloveitchik, the youngest son of the Brisker Rav, is not a man known for displays of emotion, but when he approached the funeral bier to recite Kaddish over his dear friend Rav Aharon Mordechai Zilberstrom, his grief was palpable. What forged this intimate bond between the scion of Brisk andJerusalem’s leading light of Lubavitch? In a rare conversation, Rav Meir reveals a small part of the friendship shared with the Lubavitcher genius and revisits the town ofBriskwhere it all started.
Midnight has long since passed and most residents of theHolyCitywere long ensconced under their blankets insulated from the cold and rain. Yet in two neighboring apartments the lights are on and it could have been the middle of the day.
On the upper story of Rechov Chazanovich 3 the noise of the rustling treetops filters through the enclosed porch into the small living room drowned out by the sound of Torah study which continues throughout the night. An ancient heater allows the genius from Brisk to continue his Torah study unhindered by the frigidJerusalemnight.
In the center of the room behind a volume of Rambam a worn Gemara a steaming cup of tea and a sugar cube sits Rav Meir Soloveitchik rosh yeshivah of Brisk and the youngest son of the Brisker Rav Rav Yitzchak Zev Soloveitchik ztz”l. (Other Brisker yeshivos in Jerusalem are headed by the Brisker Rav’s son Rav Meshulam Dovid Soloveitchik and grandson Rav Avraham Yehoshua Soloveitchik.)
For Rav Meir these are the good hours the hours of clarity. When the rest of the world is silent when no one disturbs him the sound of Torah study fills the room and new links are added to the golden chain of Brisk. One brilliant idea is piled on top of another and the shiur that he will deliver the next day to his students takes shape. This small room is filled with the spirit of Brisk — its exacting dedication to halachah its care for the tiniest details and the sparkle of its Torah.
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