Yosef Dov Soloveitchik (born 1820 in

Nesvizh Nyasvizh or Nesvizh is a town in Minsk Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative centre of Nyasvizh District. Nyasvizh is the site of Nesvizh Castle, a World Heritage Site. In 2009, its population was 14,300. As of 2025, it has a population ...

Minsk Governorate Minsk Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Minsk. It was created from the land acquired in the partitions of Poland and existed from 1793 until 1921. Its territory covered th ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

; died 1 May 1892 in

Brest-Litovsk Brest, formerly Brest-Litovsk and Brest-on-the-Bug, is a city in south-western Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the Polish town of Terespol, where the Bug and Mukhavets rivers meet, making it a border town. It serves as the admini ...

Grodno Governorate Grodno Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Northwestern Krai of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Grodno. It encompassed in area and consisted of a population of 1,603,409 inhabitants by 1897. Gro ...

, Russian Empire) was the author of Beis Halevi, by which name he is better known among

Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...

ic scholars. He was the great-grandson of

Chaim Volozhin Chaim of Volozhin (also known as Chaim ben Yitzchok of Volozhin or Chaim Ickovits; 21 January 1749 – 14 June 1821)Jewish Encyclopedia Bibliography: Fuenn, Keneset Yisrael, pp. 347–349; idem, Kiryah Ne'emanah, pp. 156–158; L ...

Early years

Yosef Dov Soloveitchik was born to Rivka, a granddaughter of

. His father was Yitschok Ze'ev, descendant of Simcha Rappaport. In his youth, Soloveitchik lived in Brod. One anecdote illustrates his early mastery of rabbinic learning. Shlomo Kluger, the

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

of Brod, enjoyed engaging in Talmud studies with him. When Soloveitchik was about to leave Brod, Kluger is reputed to have said to him, "You have always resolved my ''kushyos'' (difficult Talmudic questions). But I have one difficulty you cannot resolve. How will I manage to part from you?"

Rosh yeshiva

Soloveitchik was reputed to have one of the great minds of his time. In 1854, he was considered a candidate for ''

rosh yeshiva Rosh yeshiva or Rosh Hayeshiva (, plural, pl. , '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and th ...

'' of Volozhin yeshiva, over Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin (the Netziv). Ultimately, Berlin would be selected for the position, with Soloveitchik becoming his assistant. Together, they led the yeshiva until 1865.

Rabbinate

In 1865, Soloveitchik became rabbi of

Slutsk Slutsk is a town in Minsk Region, in central Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Slutsk District, and is located on the Sluch (Belarus), Sluch River south of the capital Minsk. As of 2025, it has a population of 59,450. Geography ...

. After assuming this position, he went to visit the ''

cheder A ''cheder'' (, lit. 'room'; Yiddish pronunciation: ''khéyder'') is a traditional primary school teaching the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language. History ''Cheders'' were widely found in Europe before the end of the 18th century. L ...

'' classes where the young boys received their education. When he observed the impoverished state of many children, he arranged for lunches to be served there, paid for by the community. His son,

Chaim Soloveitchik Chaim (Halevi) Soloveitchik (Yiddish: חיים סאָלאָווייטשיק, ), also known as Chaim Brisker (1853 – 30 July 1918), was a rabbi and Talmudic scholar credited as the founder of the Brisker method of Talmudic study within Judaism ...

, once said that while he himself responded to peoples’ needs, his father went further and discovered on his own what their needs were. His pupils in Slutsk included

Joseph Rosen Joseph Rosen (, ''Yosef Rosin''; 1858 – 5 March 1936) known as the Rogatchover Gaon (Genius of Rogachev) and Tzofnath Paneach (Decipherer of Secrets—the title of his main work), was an Ashkenazi rabbi and one of the most prominent talmu ...

, later to gain fame as "the Rogatchover Gaon", Zalman Sender Shapiro and Zvi Hirsch HaKohen Wolk, "the Keser Kehuna". In 1877, Soloveitchik was overcome by a deep depression because of the incarceration of his highly revered and beloved mentor, Rabbi Yehoshua Leib Diskin, on false charges by the antisemitic authorities. He was a fierce opponent of the '' Maskilim'', as a result of which he left Slutsk in 1874. He then moved to Warsaw where he lived in poverty. When the rabbi of Brisk,

Yehoshua Leib Diskin Moshe Yehoshua Yehuda Leib Diskin (1818–1898), also known as the Maharil Diskin, was a leading rabbi, Talmudist, and Biblical commentator. He served as a rabbi in Łomża, Mezritch, Kovno, Shklov, Brisk, and, finally, Jerusalem, after moving ...

left for the

Land of Israel The Land of Israel () is the traditional Jewish name for an area of the Southern Levant. Related biblical, religious and historical English terms include the Land of Canaan, the Promised Land, the Holy Land, and Palestine. The definition ...

in 1877, Soloveitchik was offered the rabbinate of Brisk. He continued to hold that position until his death in 1892, when he was succeeded by his son Chaim Soloveitchik. He is buried in

Brest, Belarus Brest, formerly Brest-Litovsk and Brest-on-the-Bug, is a city in south-western Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the Polish town of Terespol, where the Bug (river), Bug and Mukhavets rivers meet, making it a border town. It serves as ...

Works

Soloveitchik composed works on Jewish law (

responsa ''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...

) called ''Shu"t Beis Halevi'', as well as a commentary on the first book and part of the second book of the Bible (''Beis Halevi al Hatorah'').

Family tree

Soloveitchik was the great-grandfather of the eponymous

Joseph B. Soloveitchik Joseph Ber Soloveitchik ( ''Yosef Dov ha-Levi Soloveychik''; February 27, 1903 – April 9, 1993) was a major American Orthodox rabbi, Talmudist, and modern Jewish philosopher. He was a scion of the Lithuanian Jewish Soloveitchik rabbinic ...

and another descendant,

Berel Soloveitchik Berel (Yosef Dov) Soloveichik (; 1915–1981) was a rabbi and the son of Rabbi Yitzchak Zev Soloveichik and one of the leading Rosh Yeshivas ("heads of the yeshiva") of the Brisk yeshivas in Jerusalem. He was a first cousin to Rabbi Joseph B. ...

who moved to

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, both of whom are also known as "Yosef Dov Soloveitchik."

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Soloveitchik (Bais HaLevi), Yosef Dov 1820 births 1892 deaths People from Nyasvizh People from Slutsky Uyezd Belarusian Orthodox rabbis Bible commentators Soloveitchik rabbinic dynasty Anti-Zionist Orthodox rabbis Volozhin rosh yeshivas 19th-century rabbis from the Russian Empire