Rav Moshe Soloveitzik Zatzal (1915-1995)
His Yahrtzeit Is Today, Erev Shabbos,19 Iyar
Rav Moshe Soloveitchik of Lucerne, known as "The Swiss Gadol", was the son of Rav Yisroel Gershon Soloveitchik, and a grandson of Rav Chaim Soloveitchik of Brisk.
Soon after his Bar Mitzvah, he traveled to Kamenitz to study under Rav Baruch Ber Leibowitz. He fled Poland to evade the draft, along with Rav Ahron Leib Shteinman, and the two stayed in Switzerland until the end of World War II.
After the war, they traveled to Eretz Yisroel and studied at the Lomza Yeshiva in Petach Tikva, where he shared a room with Rav Chaim Kanievsky.
After his marriage, he became a Rosh yeshiva. Several years later, he moved to Lucerne and established a yeshiva there where he t instilled in his students a commitment to Torah and Yiras Shamayim.
In 1963, he moved to Zurich where he didn't accept any official position, although he became recognized as one of the leaders of Europe's Torah community. Throughout the day and night, people came to him with their questions. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, he worked to establish Yeshivat Toras Chaim in Moscow, which was a major force in bringing many unaffiliated Russian Yidden back to Torah-true Yiddishkeit.
