Rabbi Moshe Soloveitchik: "How negative events can cause new Opportunities"

B"H

It is anything but easy figuring out the Soloveitchik family. In order to get a picture, I have been collecting books, photos and plenty of articles. The strange thing is that modern Jewry and the national religious movement mainly concentrate on Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik (died in 1993). Don't get confused with the "Beit HaLevi" because here I am referring to the philosopher Joseph B. Soloveitchik.

Haredi Jewry often quotes the Brisker Rav as well as all the other Brisker Soloveitchiks. I am interested in both directions but do prefer the Brisker family tree.

As Yom Kippur is right ahead, I would like to share a Soloveitchik story about how we can learn from negative events.

As far as I know, the first Rabbi Soloveitchik mentioned was Rabbi Moshe Soloveitchik who lived in the days of Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin. It was in Slobodka (Vilijampolė) / Lithuania where Reb Moshe was running a successful lumber business. He had inherited all his wealth from his parents but one day, he just lost the business and all his money. 

The Jews in town started speculating about why Rabbi Moshe had lost his business. How could it be that G - d took all the money from him leaving him a poor man ? Of course, people started guessing and some came to the conclusion that Rabbi Moshe may have not given enough Zedakah. However, there was no definitive answer, as we don't know G - d's thoughts and intentions.

After loosing his business, Rabbi Moshe Soloveitchik didn't  really know what to do with himself and started learning at the local Beit Midrash. After some time had passed, he and other Jews noticed how talented he actually is with his Torah studies. He became an excellent scholar founding the great rabbinical Soloveitchik dynasty. 

If Rabbi Moshe hadn't lost his wealth, he would have carried on with his business without entering a Beit Midrash and discovering his real talent and task in life. Because he lost his business, he got the great opportunity of starting something new and even founded a rabbinic dynasty. 

From this we can learn that not everything negative happening to us should get us into depression. Sometimes we must loose somethin in order to find a new way in our life. We may be successful in one field and think that this is it. However, what if it turns out being a dead end and, in the end, we are left with nothing. Hopefully we get over it and start something new. Start a new life and suddenly we realize that loosing something valuable in the past wasn't the end of the world but a new opportunity for the future.


Later on, Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin chose Rabbi Moshe's son, Rabbi Yosef Soloveitchik, to marry his daughter Rielka. The beginning of the Soloveitchik dynasty. 
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Source:

The Brisker Rav by Rabbi Shimon Yosef Meller

Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik on the SHEMONA ESREI

B"H

Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik has a brief but very significant comment on the Kavanah (concentration) of the SHEMONA ESREI prayer (Amidah):

While praying SHEMONA ESREI we should be aware that we are really standing in front of the Creator ! It is not just another prayer where we need the ordinary Kavanah but a special intention. 

If you are standing in front of a King, do you let your thoughts wander or are you concentrating on everything what the King says and does ?

Eastern European Interests

B"H

Despite that I was born in Germany, I have always been interested in Judaism taking place in Eastern Europe and not necessarily in Germany. When I read about the Holocaust or collect information on Rabbis and communities, it will mostly be Eastern Europe. I actually do have roots there, as my mother came from Poland.

I have been trying to give a wide overview on haredi society, Jewish history, (some) science and plenty of Chassidut in this blog but I cannot deny that many things haven't even been mentioned. This happened due to lack of time, as I have only two hands and need to work and sleep sometimes.

I want to try fixing certain lacks of information by putting a few short teachings or descriptions about further Rabbis / haredi directions into the blog. I am actually a little ashamed that I have never really mentioned the Chatam Sofer, the Soloveitchik Rabbis (including the Brisker movement), Rabbi Aryeh Levin, the Kook Rabbis as well as Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, the Abarbanel, Rabbi Elchanan Wassermann, the "Netziv" (Rabbi Berlin), Rabbi Zadok HaCohen of Lublin or Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin. And those are only a few names on my list. Despite my chassidic preferences, I very much appreciate the teachings of the Litvishe (famous student of the Vilna Gaon), Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin.

We have a Brisker Synagogue in Jerusalem and I haven't even made it there once. Not yet. However, I am starting to put some information about different teachings into the blog and I will see whether I can put everything together as a whole.