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News
Newly Discovered Letter of R' Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk Magnifies our Respect for Torah Giants

by N. Safran

A hitherto unknown letter, written by R' Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk to R' Dovid of Karlin has recently been discovered. It contains the following story:

R' Yosef Ze'ev of Brisk told Maran about a certain Jew -- a successful merchant named Rev Lipa of Brisk -- who would conduct business in Kovna. Whenever he was Kovna, he would stop over in nearby Pinsk in order to visit R' Dovid Karliner and discuss Torah with him. (Karlin is a suburb of Pinsk.) Before parting with him, R' Dovid would always say to Reb Lipa: "Please send greetings to my mentor, R' Chaim of Brisk."

One time, as usual, Reb Lipa visited Karlin, and discussed Torah with R' Dovid. When the two parted, R' Dovid sighed and said: "What a pity that your rav isn't learning. What a pity that he isn't learning."

The Jew was shocked. R' Dovid's words were an enigma. He didn't understand them. What was the meaning of the sigh, and how could R' Dovid know that R' Chaim wasn't learning? Surely there had been a misunderstanding.

Of course, he didn't dare mention this to R' Chaim. But he told R' Chaim's sons what had happened. The sons were also startled, and told their father. R' Chaim was astounded, and began to ponder R' Dovid of Karlin's intention. The following thoughts crossed his mind: "R' Dovid recently sent me his book, Yad Dovid, and hoped to receive my reply and comments. I immediately sent R' Dovid a letter of blessing, with comments and remarks, but perhaps the letter did not arrive. As a result, R' Dovid concluded that I was so busy with public matters, that I no longer studied, for if I was learning, and nonetheless didn't take note of the sefer there was cause to be angry."

R' Chaim sat down immediately and wrote R' Dovid a letter in which he explained that he had already sent him a letter with comments on the sefer, and that it had apparently gotten lost on the way.

What is the end of the story?

During that period, the rav of Pinsk, R' Hirsch Hacohen Volk, was niftar, and R' Chaim of Brisk, together with R' Eliezer Rabinowitz of Minsk, journeyed to Pinsk in order to arrange a ma'amad for the rav's widow. R Eliezer then returned home, while R' Chaim went to visit R' Dovid of Karlin. The two sat and discussed Torah for a long time. R' Chaim asked and explained, probed, investigated and brought proofs, until he felt that R' Dovid Karliner's mind had at last been set at ease, and that he had great nachas ruach upon seeing that R' Chaim was indeed learning.

At that point, R' Chaim expressed his amazement over R' Dovid's tzidkus. We must understand that when R' Dovid didn't receive a reply about the book he had sent, he wasn't offended by R' Chaim's supposed overlooking of the sefer, which was replete with brilliant words of Torah. But he was saddened by what he presumed was the fact that the Rav of Brisk was so involved in public needs that he had no time to study. Upon seeing that the Rav of Brisk was indeed still overflowing with Torah, R' Dovid deduced that he surely spent his time learning. Knowing this, R' Dovid felt better.

The family of Maran HaRav Shach, shlita, heard him relate this story a number of times. They also knew that R' Mordechai Savitsky zt"l had sent Maran a photostat of the letter of R' Chaim of Brisk. Recently, this letter was found among Maran's seforim and writings.

In that letter, the R' Chaim had written:

"Yaarich Hashem yemei kevod harav hagodol hamefursam, ner Yisroel mofeis hador, R' Dovid, neiro yoir, ga'avad dekehilas Karlin. Yehi ohr Toraso zorei'ach lonu ulechol Yisroel ad olom.

"After receiving the blessing of kevod geduloso haromoh, shlita, the esteemed Reb Lipa came to me and told me that I hadn't written a letter upon the receipt of the sefer of kevod geduloso haromoh shlita, and if such was indeed the case, this would have been a offense on my part. Therefore, I declare that as soon as I received the sefer, I wrote a letter expressing my gratitude and blessing kevod gevuroso haroma, shlita, for this important gift. Since I was greatly honored by this gift, it is inconceivable that I didn't respond with a letter of gratitude and brocho. Nonetheless, I am obligated to explicitly state that I indeed wrote a letter of gratitude and blessings. . . .

"Hashem ya'arich shnosav veyizkeh lir'os bevo leTziyon Goel veyaaleh leTziyon bernana."

An explanation of the background for the writing of this letter appears in Shimusho Shel Torah (p. 186). This sefer, which includes stories and facts heard directly from Maran, the rosh hayeshiva HaRav Eliezer Menachem Shach shlita, was, reviewed in our newspaper upon publication and has already gone through five printings.


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