JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The Torah world mourns the passing of Rabbi Meshulam Dovid Soloveitchik, the last surviving son of Rabbi Yitzchak Ze’ev of Brisk, the Brisker Rov, who passed away in Jerusalem Sunday at the age of 99. Rabbi Soloveitchik was the fifth of twelve children and the third son of his father. He was named Meshulam after his maternal great grandfather, Meshulam Auerbach, who proposed the shidduch between his granddaughter and the son of Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik.
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During the Second World War, Rabbi Meshulam Dovid succeeded in escaping from Europe to Palestine together with his father and some of his siblings. Three of his younger siblings were murdered together with their mother during the Holocaust. Rabbi Meshulam Dovid studied under his father and continued the meticulous and uncompromising adherence to all aspects of Halacha which characterized his family. He married the daughter of Rabbi Asher Sternbuch and was a brother-in-law of Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch, one of the leaders of the Eda Chareidis. Rabbi Meshulam Dovid was close with the heads of the Eda Chareidis and shared their ideological opposition to Zionism and the state of Israel.
During the 1970’s Rabbi Meshulam Dovid opened a yeshiva in Jerusalem, which is now situated in the Givat Moshe neighborhood, where he gave shiurim (Torah lessons) according to the Brisk approach. Rabbi Meshulam Dovid’s shiurim were published in five volumes on the tractates of Kodshim. He would write his chiddushim (Torah novellae) for many hours each day, even in old age.
Rabbi Meshulam Dovid was extremely careful about monetary matters. Once he asked a member of the yeshiva to purchase some natural medicines for him. When he asked how much they cost, the disciple said that they cost 60 shekels, which Rabbi Meshulam Dovid promptly gave him. However the disciple discovered that on his next salary he had an additional 20 agorot (about 5 cents) and when he asked about this, Rabbi Meshulam Dovid told him that the bill for the medicine had an additional 20 agorot.
Rabbi Meshulam Dovid continued to lead the yeshiva for nearly 50 years and gave shiurim there until three months ago, when he contracted coronavirus. Despite recovering from the virus, Rabbi Meshulam Dovid suffered from other serious health problems and his condition deteriorated until he passed away at 6:20 A.M Sunday morning.
The Levaya will take place in Jerusalem at 11 A.M from his home in Eli Hakohen St. via the Brisk yeshiva nearby to Har Hamenuchos where he will be buried next to his father.
Rabbi Soloveitchik is survived by his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. His son Yitzchok Zeev was appointed to succeed him in the Brisk yeshiva.
כ״ק האדמו״ר מגור משתתף ברכבו בהלווית ראש ישיבת בריסק הגרמ״ד סולוביצ׳יק זצ״ל pic.twitter.com/Dzy3KXem5g
— ישראל כהן (@Israelcohen911) January 31, 2021
The Gerer Rebbe, a close friend of Rabbi Soloveitchik, participates in his funeral in a car