Shlomo Polachek (Hebrew: שלמה פוליצ'ק; 1877 – July 9, 1928) known as "the Meitscheter Illui" was born in Sinichinitz, near Meitchet, Grodna. He was an important Talmudic scholar and one of the earliest roshei yeshiva in America.
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. Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman attested that he personally heard from Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik, regarding Polachek in 1896, “Aza meshunediger illui vi der Meitsheter hob ich in leben nit gezen — I’ve never met a genius like the Meitscheter in my entire life.”[1]
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. ISBN0-253-34700-9.
Following the sudden passing of Polachek in 1928, more than 15,000 people at gathered at his funeral outside the Yeshiva on the Lower East Side.[1] Among those who eulogized him were Rabbi Boruch Ber Lebowitz.
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]
