Shlomo Polachek

Rabbi Shlomo Polachek (1877-1928) was born in Sinichinitz, near Meitchet, Grodna. He was an important Talmudic scholar and one of the earliest rosh yeshivas in America.

He entered the Volozhin yeshiva when he was only twelve years old, and remained there until its close in the winter of 1892. He then went to learn with his mentor, Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik, in Brisk for the next four years. It was Rav Chaim that referred to him as the "Meitscheter Illui" (" [Talmudic] genius [from] Meitchet"). Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik commented that in all his life, he had never come upon a genius of the measure of the Meitscheter.

Rabbi Polachek went on to become the rosh yeshiva in yeshivas in Lida and Białystok. At the invitation of Rabbi Dov Revel, Rabbi Polachek arrived in America in 1922 to become a rosh yeshiva at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) the rabbinical school of Yeshiva University and its Yeshiva College, America's first yeshiva. He taught at RIETS for six years until his sudden passing in 1928 [ [http://www.yutorah.org/bio.cfm/80129/Rabbi_Shlomo_Polachek yutorah.org: "Rabbi Shlomo Polachek"] ] [ [http://www.bklyn-genealogy-info.com/Ethnic/Jewish/Yeshiva.College.pre1934.html bklyn-genealogy-info.com "Yeshiva College pre-1934"] ]

Views

Rabbi Polachek held some broad-minded views relative to some of his contemporaries. For example, in Jeffrey S. Gurock's "Judaism's Encounter with American Sports" (Indiana University Press), Polachek is described as:

:...Polachek was silent on the importance of gyms and teams within the the school [Yeshiva University] . But reportedly he did harbor a positive view of yeshivas encouraging students physical fitness. It was a Maimonidean-style point of view that [Bernard] Revel could have counted upon if he were ever challenged about what was going on in his Torah school..." [cite book
title=Judaism's Encounter with American Sports
author=Jeffrey S. Gurock
year=2005
publisher=Indiana University Press
isbn=0253347009
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=xsreBybwZswC&pg=PA83&lpg=PA83&dq=Rabbi+Solomon+Polachek&source=web&ots=8Ayzfjxb9X&sig=UMblB2-0tDkOClXUQPsMAP2tBzg&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result]

Following the sudden passing of Rabbi Polachek in 1928, Rabbi Shimon Shkop was persuaded to replace him for a short period of time. [ [http://www.jewishpress.com/displayContent_new.cfm?contentid=17189&mode=a&contentname=Time_In_A_Bottle:_RIETS,_Circa_1928&recnum=0&sectionid=14 Levine, Yitzchok: "Time In A Bottle: RIETS, Circa 1928" "Jewish Press", December 29, 2004] ] His children, such as his daughter Rebbetzin Libby Moshowitz, married to Rabbi Dr. Israel Mowshowitz, and two sons who became doctors were notable in their own right. [cite news
author=
title=Paid Notice: Deaths
MOWSHOWITZ, LIBBY
date=1998-06-17
work=New York Times
url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9507EFDD153DF934A25755C0A96E958260
accessdate=2008-08-09]

ee also

*Brisk yeshivas and methods
*Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor (Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Spector, for whom RIETS is named)

References

*W. Helmreich. "The World of the Yeshiva: An Intimate Portrait of Orthodox Judaism." Yale University Press, 1986 (Revised Edition, 2000).
*M. Sherman. "Orthodox Judaism in America: A Biographical Dictionary and Sourcebook." Greenwood Press, 1996.