More than four decades after his passing, talmidim, assistants, and the American hosts of “everyone’s rosh yeshivah” share their personal memories of Rav Shmuel Rozovsky
It was a frigid morning in late January of 1978.
A throng of men stood together in the arrivals hall at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York, eyes trained on the door. Suddenly, the doors swung open and a tall, dignified rabbi appeared. Instantly, the waiting crowd locked arms, began a celebratory tune, and began to dance toward him.
A weakened Rav Shmuel Rozovsky approached the joyous crowd with surprise in his eyes and waved them off, but they remained undeterred. The leader of the group, a veteran talmid, clasped Rav Shmuel’s hand warmly and whispered some words into his ear. Slowly, the great Ponevezher Rosh Yeshivah began to smile. He beckoned the group to a nearby seating area where they crowded around him in silence. No matter that he’d just concluded a grueling flight, no matter that his
Rav Dovid Soloveitchik lived in a world where the only reality was spiritual. The last living son of the Brisker Rav, his petirah marks the end of a glorious era in the dynasty’s history
I
n the yeshiva world, the word “Brisk” is uttered with reverence. It conjures up images of
batei medrash pulsating with activity, erudite scholars steeped in solemnity, scintillating and rigorous analyses, and uncompromising dedication to the truth of Torah.
If Brisk is a kingdom, then it has several royal palaces the yeshivos dotting the heart of Yerushalayim and a royal family that presides over those bastions of Torah. The members of the Soloveitchik family hail from a long line of