Shlomo Polachek

Shlomo Polachek (Hebrew: שלמה פוליצ'ק‎; 1877 – July 9, 1928) was born in Sinichinitz, near Meitchet, Grodna. He was an important Talmudic scholar and one of the earliest roshei yeshiva in America.

Meitscheter Illui

Biography

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). Chaim Soloveitchik commented that in all his life, he had never come upon a genius of the measure of the Meitscheter.

Polachek went on to become the rosh yeshiva in yeshivos in Lida and Białystok. At the invitation of Rabbi Dr. Dov Revel, 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.[1][2]

His Great Grandson, Naftali "Nathaniel" Polachek is a prominent Hedge Fund Manager[3] in New York City, and himself is an esteemed Talmid Chochom who learned under Rabbi Chaim Ilson and Rabbi Herschel Shachter.

Views

Polachek held some broad-minded views relative to some of his contemporaries. For example, Jeffrey S. Gurock writes in Judaism's Encounter with American Sports (Indiana University Press):[4]

...Polachek was silent on the importance of gyms and teams within 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...

— Jeffrey S. Gurock (2005). Judaism's Encounter with American Sports. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-34700-9.

Following the sudden passing of Polachek in 1928, Shimon Shkop was persuaded to replace him for a short period of time.[5] His children were notable in their own right, including daughter Rebbetzin Libby Mowshowitz (married to Rabbi Dr. Israel Mowshowitz), a son who received a PhD, and another son who became a doctor .[6]

See also

References
  1. yutorah.org: "Rabbi Shlomo Polachek"
  2. "Yeshiva College pre-1934". bklyn-genealogy-info.com. Archived from the original on 2012-06-05.
  3. http://commoditylp.com/our-team.html
  4. Jeffrey S. Gurock (2005). Judaism's Encounter with American Sports. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0-253-34700-9.
  5. Levine, Yitzchok: "Time In A Bottle: RIETS, Circa 1928" Jewish Press, December 29, 2004
  6. "Paid Notice: Deaths: MOWSHOWITZ, LIBBY". New York Times. 1998-06-17. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
  • 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.
  • http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/Molchadz/mol085.html


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