He was a self-made man. Yes, he came from a princely family of Torah greatness. Yes, he was endowed with superb intellect. But perhaps it can be said that Rav Elya Meir Sorotzkin soared to greatness despite these unique qualities, not because of them! Because his was a life of constant growth.
The fact that he was gifted never stopped him from trying even harder. As a young bachur, he understood that he would only be able to truly grow in Torah away from home in Telshe Cleveland. Only when he was just another talmid, not as the son of the Rosh Yeshiva. Nothing could stop him, not homesickness, not a different culture, nothing. Rather, his challenges built him.
That is the person you will meet in this book, Rav Elya Meir Sorotzkin.
He became a rosh yeshiva at a very young age and, with “blood, sweat and tears,” as he would often say, built the yeshiva into one of America’s premier institutions. More: He built individual talmidim. Because he personally went through the painstaking process of self-discovery and growth, he was able to identify with the struggles and triumphs of his talmidim in a way that few could.
The last years of life were akin to a flame that burns increasingly bright before it is extinguished. Nothing could stop him from carrying on with his life’s mission of learning and teaching Torah, transmitting Torah in its purity and splendor to his talmidim.
His body was battered. His doctors viewed his ability to continue delivering his shiur until the last day that he was conscious as a medical miracle.
It wasn’t.
It was a culmination of a life of ratzon, of willpower, of never letting the physical get in the way of the spiritual.
This book will give you a deep appreciation for Torah. It will show you what a lifelong impact a Rebbi can have on his talmidim and later their wives and children too. In every page there is an inspiring story with which any reader can identify.
This book will elevate you, inspire you… and obligate you.
An Inside ArtScroll interview with Rabbi Tzvi Uhr, highlighting the lifelong impact that his rebbi had on his talmidim
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