Forty years later,Rav Yitzchok Hutner still speaks to our souls
Photos: Trainer Photography, Rabbi Shimon Yosef Meller, author of HaRav MiBrisk, Kiddush Hashem Archive
Warsaw was not just the capital of Poland, it was the capital of Jewish Poland, and when Rav Yitzchok Hutner was born in 1906, it was the crossroads of the Jewish world.
The child soaked in the richness of its spirit, yet unlike those who shed skins and wrap themselves in new ones as they mature, he managed to somehow maintain its flavor. He would go on to shine in the halls of the litvishe yeshivah world, but the probing depth of Kotzk would remain part of him.
In Slabodka, he came under the influence of the man who would shape him, the Alter of Slabodka, Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel. The Alter would use both arms, drawing close and distancing, in bringing forth the potential of the young man in whom he identified as having “princely traits.”
Create a free account to keep reading.
