Rav Ahron Soloveichik's 10th Yahrzeit

In Memory of my Rebbi, Hagaon Harav Ahron Halevi Soloveichik zt"l on today, his tenth yahrzeit.

In a teaching that he gave many times, including at the hesped for his mother, Rav Ahron explained the midrash which says that Iyov did not find comfort after all the trials that he suffered until G-d showed him a sukkah. What was so special about the sukkah that it eased Iyov’s mind, after all of the lengthy addresses of his friends failed to do so? Rav Ahron explained that a sukkah is halachically valid even if it has only two complete walls and a fraction of a third wall. The halacha provides for the use of our imagination to create virtual walls. Imaginary walls, said Rav Ahron, can be as real as actual walls, just as imaginary numbers in mathematics are as valid as real numbers. Iyov realized that despite the loss of his children, he could imagine them and in that way their void was not as noticeable.

With the petirah of our rebbi, his students felt a tremendous void. How can we go on without being able to ask Rebbe our shailos? How should we act, without the cogent advice he readily and patiently bestowed to us? The answer is that the Sukkah still has four walls. Rav Ahron imbued all of his talmidim with kochos and a connection to the mesorah of Brisk. By reviewing the shiurim we heard from him, and by recalling the many inspirational acts of chesed he did, he is still with us. May his memory be a blessing.

Below is a brief biographical sketch of Rav Ahron I was asked to write for a magazine. They decided not to publish it, so I present it here, and I reiterate, it is very brief.

Rav Ahron Halevi Soloveichik Article Revised