Yosef Dov Soloveitchik (Beis Halevi)
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Yosef Dov Soloveitchik (b.1820 in Nesvizh, Minsk, Belarus; d.1892 in Brest-Litovsk, Grodno, Belarus[1]) was the author of Beis Halevi, by which name he is better known among Talmudical scholars. He was the great-grandson of Rabbi Chaim Volozhiner.
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[edit] Early years
In his youth Yosef Dov lived in Brod. Rabbi Shlomo Kluger, the rabbi of Brod, enjoyed discussing Talmud studies with him. When Yosef Dov was about to leave Rabbi Shlomo is reputed to have said to him, “you have always resolved my kushyos (difficulties) but I have one difficulty you cannot resolve: how will I manage to part with you.”
[edit] Rosh yeshiva
Yosef Dov Soloveitchik was reputed to have one the great minds of his time. In 1854 was invited to become co-rosh yeshiva of Volozhin yeshiva, together with Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin. However, they were temperamentally incompatible and, after ten years, Soloveitchik decided to leave.
[edit] Rabbinate
In 1865 Yosef Dov became Rabbi of Slutsk. After taking up this position he went to visit the cheder 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, Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik, 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 Yosef Rosen, later to achieve fame as the Rogatchover Gaon, and Zalman Sender Shapiro.
He was a fierce opponent of the Maskilim, as a result of which he left Slutzk in 1874. He then moved to Warsaw where he lived in poverty. When the rabbi of Brisk, Rabbi Yehoshua Leib Diskin left for the Land of Israel in 1877, Rabbi 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 Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik.
[edit] Works
Yosef Dov composed works on the Mishneh Torah and first five books of the Hebrew Bible which were published under the title Beis HaLevi (Hebrew for 'House of the Levites').
[edit] Family tree
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Yosef Dov was the great-grandfather of the eponymous Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik and another descendant, Rabbi Berel Soloveitchik who moved to Israel, also known as "Yosef Dov Soloveitchik."
