Eliyahu Soloveitchik

Who is Eliyahu Soloveitchik?

Eliyahu Zevi Soloveitchik was a Lithuanian rabbi, author and translator from Slutsk. Soloveitchik was a grandson of Rabbi Chaim Volozhin and the uncle of Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, the Beis Halevi.

In 1875 he published a Hebrew commentary on the Gospel of Matthew called Kol Kore which was translated into French, German and English as The Bible, the Talmud and the Gospel. The work followed the approach of Jacob Emden and sought to explain the Talmud to Christians and the Gospel to Jews and to demonstrate the common grounds of belief.

He also published a commentary on the Yad Hachazakah of Maimonides. His English translation of the Mishneh Torah was completed in 1857 and published in England in 1863 by Thomas William Nicholson of London. In his later life he became blind.

Eliyahu Zevi Soloveitchik was the father of Simchah Ha-Levi Soloveitchik, who emigrated to Jerusalem where he was called "The Londoner." His son was a Jerusalem community worker and pharmacist known as Zalman Yoseph Soloveitchik who was the father of Yitzchak Lev who emigrated to New York and changed the family name to Salovey; he was known for his work caring for the infirm and elderly of the community.