The Soloveitchik dynasty of rabbinic scholars and their students originated the Brisker method of Talmudic study, which is embraced by their followers in the Brisk yeshivas. It is so called because of the Soloveitchiks' origin in the town of Brisk, or Brest-Litovsk, located in what is now Belarus. Many of the first Soloveitchik rabbis were the official rabbis of Brisk, and each in turn was known as "the Brisker Rov". Today, Brisk refers to several yeshivas in Israel and the United States founded by members of the Soloveitchik family, including: ‘Brisk Proper’(Now run by R’ Abraham Yehousua Soloveitchik),R’ Dovid’s, Tomo(Toras Moshe), and others.
Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, also known as Reb Hirsch Leib Berlin, and commonly known by the acronym Netziv, was an Orthodox rabbi, Rosh yeshiva (dean) of the Volozhin Yeshiva and author of several works of rabbinic literature in Lithuania.
Chaim (Halevi) Soloveitchik, also known as Chaim Brisker, was a rabbi and Talmudic scholar credited as the founder of the Brisker approach to Talmudic study within Judaism. He was also a member of the Soloveitchik dynasty, the son of Yosef Dov Soloveitchik.
Chaim of Volozhin was a rabbi, Talmudist, and ethicist. Popularly known as "Reb Chaim Volozhiner" or simply as "Reb Chaim", he was born in Volozhin when it was a part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He died there while it was under the control of the Russian Empire.
Yitzchok Zev Halevi Soloveitchik, also known as Velvel Soloveitchik or the Brisker Rov ("rabbi of/from Brisk",, was an Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva of the Brisk yeshiva in Jerusalem.
Joseph Rosen known as the Rogatchover Gaon and Tzofnath Paneach, was an Ashkenazi rabbi and one of the most prominent talmudic scholars of the early 20th-century. Rosen was known as a gaon (genius) because of his photographic memory and tendency to connect sources from the Talmud to seemingly unrelated situations. Rosen has been described as the foremost Talmudic genius of his time.
Moshe Soloveichik was an Orthodox rabbi. He was the middle son of renowned Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik and grandson of the Beis HaLevi. He married Pesya Feinstein, daughter of the renowned Rabbi of Pruzany, Rabbi Eliyahu Feinstein, and first cousins with Rabbi Moshe Feinstein.
Yeshivas Etz Ḥayyim, commonly called the Volozhin Yeshiva, was a prestigious Lithuanian yeshiva located in the town of Volozhin, Russian Empire. It was founded around 1803 by Rabbi Ḥayyim Volozhiner, a student of the famed Vilna Gaon, and trained several generations of scholars, rabbis, and leaders. It is considered the first modern yeshiva, and served as a model for later Misnagedic educational institutions.
Boruch Ber Leibowitz (Yiddish: ברוך בער לייבאוויץ Hebrew: רב ברוך דוב ליבוביץ, romanized: Boruch Dov Libovitz; 1862 – November 17, 1939, known as Reb Boruch Ber, was a rabbi famed for his Talmudic lectures, particularly in that they were rooted styled in the method of his teacher Chaim Soloveitchik. He is known for leading Yeshivas Knesses Beis Yitzchak in Slabodka and Kaminetz.
Aryeh Leib Malin (1906–1962) was a Polish-born American Haredi Jewish rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and Mussarist who taught the Torah and spread rabbinical education in Europe, China, Japan, and the United States.
Soloveitchik is a surname. The name is a diminutive form of the Russian word соловей, "nightingale", since the Soloveitchiks are a family of Levites, who are commanded by the Torah to sing in the Beit Hamikdash. It is notably the name of a rabbinic family descended from Yosef Dov Soloveitchik (1820-1892). Members include:
The Brisker method, or Brisker derech, is a reductionistic approach to Talmud study innovated by Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk, as opposed to the traditional approach which was rather holistic. It has since become popular and spread to yeshivas around the world. The Brisker method is also known as the "conceptual" approach to Talmud study, and is often referred to simply as lomdus . See Yeshiva § Talmud study.
Meshulam Dovid Soloveitchik was a Haredi rabbi and rosh yeshiva of one of the branches of the Brisk yeshivas in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Berel Soloveichik (1915–1981) was a rabbi and the son of Rabbi Yitzchak Zev Soloveichik and one of the leading Rosh Yeshivas of the Brisk yeshivas in Jerusalem. He was a first cousin to Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, who was named after the Beis HaLevi, like himself. Rabbi Soloveichik was succeeded as Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Brisk in Jerusalem by his son Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Soloveichik.
Rabbi Binyomin Paler was a Haredi rosh yeshiva and Talmudist who is regarded as one of those who brought the Brisk yeshivas and methods from Europe to the United States.
Eliyahu Halevi Feinstein, also known as Reb Elye Pruzhaner,, was a leading rabbinic authority of his time.
Eliyahu Zevi Soloveitchik (Soloweyczyk) was a Lithuanian rabbi, author and translator from Slutsk. Soloveitchik was a grandson of Rabbi Chaim Volozhin and the uncle of Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, the Beis Halevi.
The Choral Synagogue or the Great Synagogue was the main synagogue in Brest, Belarus. Completed in circa 1862, it was used as a synagogue until World War II.
