There is so much more that could be told. But here is at least part of the story... a significant part as I experienced it.
Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik was a controversial figure in Chicago almost from his first day of arrival. Chicago was ruled by a powerful group of forces that included the Mizrachi (Religious Zionists) leadership and the relatively new movement known as Traditional Orthodoxy which allowed Orthodox Shuls to remove their Mechitzos and install microphones.
The Traditional Movement was quite different than the Conservative Movement in that it was under the banner of Orthodoxy and virtually all Traditional rabbis were Musmachim from HTC. They were all Shomrei Torah uMitzvos and were given a Heter by their Rebbe and Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Chaim David Regensberg, to take these Shuls provisionally, while trying to install or re-install the Mechitza which in the end, was rarely ever accomplished. He felt that by refusing to allow Bnei Torah from taking these Shuls they would go to the Conservative JTS who by definition are Apikursim and the result would be that these Shul members and their children would be lost to Judaism. In fact many of these rabbis were somewhat successful in sending the children of their membership to day schools and religious high schools, Bnei Akiva and the like. But the consensus of every other Gadol including Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik was that taking such a Shul was Assur.
Mizrachi was the major religious movement in Chicago for decades and it remained unchallenged by other Orthodox forces such as Agudath Israel, Young Israel or Lubavitch who were all making inroads in other cities and... as was the case with Agudah... really taking over the hearts and minds of people in the various communities they were found. Agudah never had any luck in Chicago. Mizrachi and its youth division, Bnei Akiva, were too strong here. Its summer camp, Moshava was virtually the only summer camp that parents would even think about sending their children to. There was no Pirchei, no Camp Agudah, and no Camp Gan Israel... only Moshava. Mizrachi was all powerful. They virtually controlled Jewish life and the direction it should take. When Telshe Yeshiva decided to set up a branch here in the early sixties, it was hardly a blip on the Chicago radar screen.
This was the scenario when Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik arrived in Chicago in 1966. He was recruited by his friend and HTC president at the time, Rabbi Dr. Simon G. Kramer. Reluctant to come, he was urged by Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky to come here and fight the Traditional Movement. Dr. Kramer felt that the very popular Rebbe in YU and Yeshivas Chaim Berlin, was just the man to head HTC at a time when the school had recently been put in Cherem by other Gedolei Yisroel for firing the esteemed Gaon, Rabbi, Dr. Chaim Zimmerman. RAS was wooed by Dr. Kramer and promised full authority over the running of the school in every respect. After a settlement agreement between HTC’s board and R. Chaim, the ban was lifted and RAS accepted the position.
Rabbi Soloveichik began his tenure as the Rosh HaYeshiva by immediately alienating all the Traditional rabbis in the city whose members were powerful members of HTC’s board of directors. RAS instituted the policy of not allowing any of his Musmachim to take non-Mechitza Shuls without his express permission. Every Musmach had to sign a document which declared his Smicha null and void upon doing so.
Mizrachi, on the other hand looked to Rav Aharon as their spiritual mentor knowing of the Soloveichik sympathy and leaning towards Religious Zionism. Rav Ahron after all said Hallel on Yom HaAtzmaut, which was the policy already in place at HTC. He was made honorary head of Mizrachi and sat in a place of honor at the “Mizrach Vant” in the recently built Mizrachi Center in the then primary Jewish neighborhood of Albany Park. A marriage made in heaven one could say.
During his tenure at HTC, RAS enjoyed the love and support of his students. He was a man who thought of his students first and the Yeshiva and its faculty second. Here is an illustration of that which I will never forget. There was a top student in his Smicha Shiur who dressed in the attire common to college students of the day... blue jeans, blue work shirt, sandals, very long hippie like hair and beard looking very much like he belonged to the infamous “Chicago Seven” of Abbie Hoffman fame. Many parents objected that a Yeshiva student looked like this and complained to the Dean of Students, Dr. Joseph Babad. He decided to tell this student not to come back to the Yeshiva until he changed his look. RAS, upset by Dr. Badad’s directive, immediately countermanded the order, telling Dr. Babad that he was a top student and it was no one’s business how he looked and re-instated him. Student first, faculty and administration second. This attitude by RAS was a sore spot for some of the faculty who later turned on him as well.
RAS was a man who was not reticent to speak out on the issues of the day. Vehemently opposed to the Viet Nam War he spoke out in the strongest terms against the war in many public Shiurim in the Beis HaMedrash. This alienated many a Bal HaBos, parent, and board member who at the time were all in support of the war.
Then came the Buddhist missionaries. In the year 1972 Mizrachi leaders decided to sell their building in Albany Park whose Orthodox Jews were leaving in droves, and move their headquarters to the new Jewish neighborhood of West Rogers Park. There were not many buyers for this relatively new building since its uses were limited. They found an eager buyer in a group calling themselves The National Scouts of America. But that name was misleading. They were a highly missionizing sect of Buddhists out to get the people in the neighborhood to convert. The Mizrachi leadership sold them the building for a very high price.
When RAS found out about it, he was appalled and questioned the validity of the sale. Mizrachi had claimed that they were misled about the religious aspects of this group and wouldn’t have sold it to them had they known. But... that it was now too late. RAS countered that it amounted to a Mekach Taus, a sale under false pretences, that could be reversed. As a lawyer, he offered to represent Mizrachi in court to reverse the sale. Mizrachi leaders refused, stating as reasons the futility of such a move and the fact that there was a lot of "Jewish" money involved that would never be able to be realized any other way, the building having such low saleable value in the down market of a changing neighborhood. Mizrachi leaders also argued that it would not affect Jews in any case since all Jews were moving out of the neighborhood anyway.
And then all hell broke loose. At one meeting Rav Ahron protested vehemently that the organization of which he was the honorary head would dare sell a building to people who practice Avodah Zara, idol worship and whose specific purpose was to seek converts in a Jewish neighborhood. After being rebuffed at one meeting he showed his protest by lying down on the floor. He had to be carried out. I will never forget the time he told our Shiur of the public protest being organized at the Mizrachi building. He said we did not have to go but if we wished to participate there was a bus waiting outside of the Beis HaMedrash. We all went and picketed and were joined by Telzers whose building to this day is located a mere two blocks away from the site of that building.
It was to no avail. Mizrachi sold the building and bought another one in West Rogers Park. Rav Ahron quit Mizrachi and became bitterly opposed to them as did much of Mizrachi membership to him.
This was the final straw. After six years tenure at HTC, Rav Ahron’s contract was up for renewal and the board of directors who were now comprised almost exclusively of his enemies (with a few notable exceptions) were determined to strip him of his power and keep him only as a figurehead. They even had the backing of some of the faculty Rebbeim, the high school principal, and HTC resident Jewish Philosopher, Dr. Eliezer Berkovitz. Rav Ahron refused to be a mere figurehead. His contract was not renewed. There was a major split in the community.
Rav Ahron went on to create Yeshivas Brisk which at first enjoyed some success while HTC took a nose dive. Ultimately the fortunes of these two institutions were reversed with Brisk ultimately failing, while HTC now enjoys its greatest success since the sixties. Mizrachi has since become a near non-entity in Chicago replaced by the far more popular Agudah and Pirchei movements. Meanwhile the Lakewood Community Kollel strode into town and changed the hearts and minds of many of its citizens about their religious priorities. Gone was the loyalty to Religious Zionism. Its place had been taken by “Charedi” Hashkafos of the highly popular Roshei Kollel and members. The Traditional Movement has nearly died.
This was an amazing chapter in Chicago Jewish history that I was eye witness to. I only hope when history records it, that it will be done accurately and fairly. Rabbi Aaron Soloveichik was a seminal figure in Chicago who almost single-handedly destroyed the Traditional movement by forbidding his Talmidim from taking positions in their Shuls. Mizrachi’s demise was in large part, the result of the controversial sale of the Mizrachi building to a group of highly missionizing Idol worshippers.
His legacy is an everlasting tribute to his personal character and convictions. He was a seeker of Emes and an uncompromising individual willing to do whatever he could to stop injustice whenever and wherever he saw it.
May his memory be for a blessing.
