| Magazine Feature |

Only Torah Consoles

 By Yisroel Besser | October 29, 2024

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The sudden passing of Rav Shlomo Halioua leaves a shocked and shattered people

Photos: AEGedolimphotos.com

As the greatness of Rav Shlomo Halioua grew, so did his humility. The son-in-law of Chaim Berlin Rosh Yeshivah Rav Aharon Shechter, he was one more talmid before the master, even as he could no longer conceal his radiance. Until Rav Aharon passed away, and this humble servant became Rosh Yeshivah. Yet just as his fire started to blaze, it was snuffed out, leaving behind a shocked and shattered tzibbur. 

IFyou knew Rav Shlomo Halioua, you are already crying.

If you did not know him, then you should cry now.

Not only because you did not know him, but because the nation you belong to — Klal Yisrael — sustained a serious blow with his sudden passing: one of those asher amarnu betzilo nichyeh, of whom we said, “Under His protection we shall live.” (Eichah 4:20)

He was a general who earned his rank in the trenches, a king whose crown was formed by hands lined with toil.

He was rosh yeshivah in Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin, and I wonder if there is another yeshivah in which the title carries as much meaning.

In that yeshivah, it means rosh yeshivah, but also rebbe, father, and melech.

And somehow, he did it.

To the alumni (in Chaim Berlin, there are no former talmidim), he represented the grandeur of what was, the sweeping, panoramic vision of Rav Yitzchak Hutner, the ability to fuse nigleh and nistar, to articulate esoteric complexities with the clarity and enthusiasm of a talented ninth-grade rebbi. He could sit at the head of a table lined with people older than him and make Yamim Tovim come alive as they once had, reenergizing talmidim who belonged to a brotherhood forged decades earlier.

To the talmidim of his father-in-law, Rav Aharon Shechter, he was heir to the avodas Aharon, the relentless, indomitable drive to serve — the ability to sit by a Gemara for five, six, seven hours at a time (as they often did, the two of them together on a sublime island of their own), the mix of incredible strength and incredible refinement and the humility that comes with being a servant to Klal Yisrael.

And to the talmidim, the yungeleit and bochurim inside that flourishing, vibrant Torah citadel on Coney Island Avenue?

He was the Rosh Yeshivah. The one who shared with them the Torah squeezed out of his essence with intense toil, whose breadth matched his depth, who seemed able to instantly draw on any source to clarify a point, and to whom that clarity — perfect havanah in a Rashba, the omitted word in the Rambam, the nuance in a Rashi — was the point of existence, the reason we are here.

Pure Pleasure

Chacham Avraham Halioua came from Meknes, Morocco, a city rich in talmidei chachamim and tzaddikim, but it was a city in decline when Rav Avraham Kalmanowitz came to visit. The indefatigable rosh yeshivah of Mir-Brooklyn, Rav Kalmanowitz traveled through Morocco, encouraging young families to join him in New York and encouraging parents to send their sons there as well, where he would provide for their spiritual futures.

Rav Avraham was descended from the prestigious rabbinic family of Maharam Chalava and Rabbeinu Bechayei. He emigrated to Brooklyn in 1948 and joined the Mirrer Yeshivah; as Rav Kalmanowitz foretold, he soared in Torah and yiras Shamayim.

At the chanukas habayis for the new beis medrash at Yeshivah Darchei Torah’s Camp Oraysa this past summer, Rav Yaakov Bender welcomed Rav Shlomo Halioua to speak. In his introduction, Rav Bender recalled his years as a talmid in the Mir, saying, “And we learned how to daven by watching Rav Avraham Halioua… there was such heiligkeit there….”

Shlomo Chai Dovid Yitzchak Halioua was born in 1958, and Chacham Avraham and Rabbanit Masouda (scion of the prestigious Toledano family, a rabbinic dynasty of its own) sent him to Yeshivah of Brooklyn, where he excelled. An old Jewish Observer article, (Summer, 1974), reports on the Pirchei Agudath Israel Hasmadah contest: one of the top winners was young Shlomo Halioua, who engaged in 75 hours of Torah study during his leisure time over Pesach vacation.

From there, he went to learn under Rav Binyamin Paler, who would become one of his prime rebbeim. Rav Paler, a talmid of the Brisker Rav, opened a new doorway before this eager talmid, who traveled to learn in the Brisker yeshivah in Yerushalayim. When he came to learn in Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin, he was already an accomplished talmid chacham, and he developed a close connection with the Rosh Yeshivah, Rav Aharon Schechter.

Rav Shlomo married the Rosh Yeshivah’s daughter, Rebbetzin Nechama, and became a chaver of Kollel Gur Aryeh — literally, a friend to the beis medrash, its people, its seforim, its visitors and its storied history.

The aura around him, recalls a talmid of that period, was one of pure pleasure. “You saw him standing in the corner, speaking in learning with his chaburah, and you just loved him — he was a pure lamdan, a brilliant talmid chacham who was taking monthly Mifal HaShas tests on tens of blatt, yet so sweet and humble. He did not look around the beis medrash or actively socialize, but somehow, he had a radar for those in need, and he made these quiet chasadim his own.”

His ambition and aspiration was to learn Torah. Nothing more, and nothing less. He radiated the simchah of a person whose world is complete, thrilled to be in a beis medrash, to be able to absorb Torah from his father-in-law and from Rav Yankel Drillman, whom he revered.

His humility drew talmidim to him, and his pleasant nature affected them as well. His eyes sparkled when you spoke to him in learning, and there was only you, the person with whom he was speaking — whatever your age, however unsophisticated your question may have been.

so much hope!

And now, what remains?

Oloseihem v’zivcheihem, leratzon al mizbechi — Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be acceptable upon My mizbeach.

And what a sacrifice this is, one that leaves an entire tzibbur reeling.

Building Upon Shards

His people, talmidim of Rav Hutner, of Rav Aharon, of Rav Shlomo, they will stand tall once again, showing the world the timeless Yiddishe skill of moving forward: they have taken a yeshivah with a glorious past and given it a glorious present. They will find the strength, the spirit, the stamina and the siyata d’Shmaya to give it a glorious future as well.

Reb Shlomo, the Rosh Yeshivah, spoke about the broken shards of stone from the destroyed Beis Hamikdash, and how those stones were used to build Torah in galus. Reb Shlomo built on a shard after the petirah of Rav Aharon, and now, that fragment is itself destroyed, barely a sliver remaining.

But on it, they will build yet again: on Shemini Atzeres, as the Rosh Yeshivah was slipping away, we read a pasuk in the Haftorah. And it was when Shlomo had finished building the house of Hashem… and all Shlomo’s desire that he wished to make. (Melachim 1 9:1)

He did not finish building — he was just getting started — but in those 12 months, he made it clear what he wanted, and with this, the echo of his deep voice, a voice filled with conviction, with heart, and with sincerity, they will continue to build.

 

In the Heavenly Succah, There’s Only Life

By Shmuel Botnick

Alittle over a year ago, Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin struggled to find footing following the loss of its rosh yeshivah, Rav Aharon Shechter ztz”l. Rav Aharon had been everything the legendary yeshivah stood for: A brilliant talmid chacham and baal machshavah whose existence brimmed with the overflowing vigor charged by the reality of Torah itself.

How would they continue? Who would take his place?

Rav Aharon himself supplied the answer — a brilliant one indeed.

Rav Shlomo Halioua was Rav Aharon’s son-in-law and through him, the torch of leadership would continue. A son of Rav Avraham Halioua, young Shlomo had been a talmid of Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin while still a bochur and stood out among his peers for his extraordinary genius. He attained an impeccable clarity in his learning, with a firm grasp on the singular style of machshavah originated by Rav Hutner and perpetuated by his talmidim.

For decades, Rav Shlomo served as a much beloved maggid shiur in the yeshivah as well as its rosh kollel. It wasn’t until his father-in-law’s medical condition grew more serious that he began to deliver ma’amarim in the yeshivah.

In Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin, a “ma’amar” is treated with the greatest reverence. It is held to a delicate standard, where the ideas must be deep yet clearly defined, abstract yet firmly based.

Following the passing of his father-in-law, Rav Shlomo was formally crowned as rosh yeshivah. In one of the first ma’amarim he delivered in this capacity, he spoke of forging onward in the face of loss.

It was during Aseres Yemei Teshuvah — still in the middle of the shloshim. He began slowly, referencing the “groise aveidah,” the enormous loss of a decades-long beacon of inspiration. “Mir zuchen nechamah,” he said, “we search for comfort.” “Avu iz der nechamah — where is the consolation?”

The nechamah, said Rav Shlomo, is in the Torah. And he proceeded to explain: On Yom Kippur we are bequeathed with what appears as two disparate endowments. We receive atonement for our sins, and we also become the recipients of the Luchos shniyos — the second set of Luchos, which were presented to us on Yom Kippur.

Is there a connection between the atonement and the second Luchos?

Rav Shlomo quoted Rav Hutner who explained that the two are inherently linked. A sin is a cessation of existence — sins are a form of death. Effectively, atonement for sins is a dimension of techiyas hameisim, a resurrection from the demise wrought by sin.

When Moshe Rabbeinu broke the first set of Luchos, its sacred letters departed — osiyos porchos b’avir. This departure was a form of death.

The second set of Luchos, said Rav Hutner, isn’t merely a replacement of the first — it is a revival of the first. Through the second set of Luchos, the first set lives on.

Just as atonement for sin revives the dead, the second Luchos revive the first Luchos.

Torah lives on.

The kol shofar that we experienced at Matan Torah, said Rav Hutner, is that declaration of eternity. Torah shall never die.

Rav Shlomo delivered this message in the weeks following Rav Aharon Shechter’s petirah.

The Luchos shattered, but we will persevere. A second set of luchos will always be there to revive the first.

One year later, this second set of Luchos was shattered as well.

Shortly before the oncoming of the second days of Yom Tov, Rav Shlomo was admitted to the hospital with an alarming infection. His situation deteriorated rapidly, and on Sunday, after Yom Tov, he passed away.

Osiyos porchos b’avir.

Just days earlier, Rav Shlomo presided over the yeshivah’s Simchas Beis Hashoeivah. He spoke multiple times, sharing numerous gems and penetrating insights. One of his ideas focused on the term found in the Gemara — “reui’yin kol Yisrael leisheiv b’succah achas — all of Yisrael are worthy of sitting in a single succah.’” Rav Shlomo expounded upon the idea of “succah achas” explaining that although we live in a world of multiplicity, there is a sum of the parts that stands at the core of the parts themselves. The “succah achas” is that uniting factor of hundreds of thousands of souls making up the entity that is Klal Yisrael.

The shards of this fresh set of Luchos, shattered in the prime of its life, is too searing to contemplate. Rav Shlomo carried so much promise, the perfect general of a proudest army.

And now he’s gone.

Mir zuchen nechamah…avu iz der nechamah?

Rav Shlomo told us the answer. The nechamah lies in the Torah.

The shofar that resounded at Har Sinai continues, one set of Luchos bringing a previous one to life.

Somewhere within the haze of broken shards and flying letters lies the equilibrium of a single, unifying, constant force; in that succah achas, there is no death.

The legacy sparked by Rav Hutner, continued through Rav Aharon, and passed on to Rav Shlomo, will endure this crushing blow.

Up in Shamayim, these three towering talmidei chachamim sit together, basking in the brilliance of the Torah to which they devoted their lives.

And sometime soon, they will share this Torah with all of us, a most exquisite ma’amar given in perfect harmony.

As we all join together in a true and final succah achas.

Eternal Send-off

During those painful moments following the petirah of the Rosh Yeshivah, the family and talmidim found themselves forced to absorb yet another blow with the passing of Rabbanit Masouda, mother of the Rosh Yeshivah — a daughter of royalty, wife of royalty and mother of royalty.

Veteran talmidim reflected on the significance: she had lived and breathed his success, her eyes looking on and rejoicing as he grew in Torah, meriting the nachas she had davened for when she left the familiarity and comfort of family in Morocco.

Now, when he was on his way to a glorious reception in the realm of truth and light, she would be there to behold the splendor, to see the shiur he would give, to watch him speak in learning with Rav Paler, with his father-in-law and with Rav Hutner.

On Monday, two aronos sat side by side on Coney Island Avenue, outside the yeshivah, a mother seeing her son off to the yeshivah shel ma’alah, a world of eternal joy.

 

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 1034)

All credit goes to Yisroel Besser, Shmuel Botnick & the Mishpacha.