Baruch Dayan Ha’emes: Rav Hershel Lieberman z”l, Talmid of the Brisker Rav and Chazon Ish, Niftar at 95
Rav Hershel Lieberman zt”l, a talmid muvhak of both the Brisker Rav and the Chazon Ish whose ties to the gedolei hador of the previous generation spanned Europe, Eretz Yisroel, and America, was niftar on Tuesday at the age of 95. The video above is a recent interview with R’ Hershel about his time with the Brisker Rav and the Chazon Ish
Rav Lieberman, together with his brother Rav Yosef Lieberman z”l, who was niftar just several weeks ago, and their sister, escaped from Vichy France as a young boy during World War II (his older brother, Rav Dovid Moshe, escaped separately and went on to become the chief rabbi of Belgium). The three siblings made it to safety, and Rav Hershel would go on to spend his life learning in some of the most prestigious yeshivos of the twentieth century.
In his early years he was a ben bayis in the home of Rav Yitzchok Hutner ZT”L, where he absorbed the derech of the prewar gedolim. He then learned for a short period in Lakewood under Rav Aharon Kotler ZT”L before continuing on to Eretz Yisroel to learn at the Mir Yeshiva.
He then transferred to Brisk, where Rav Hershel became a member of the chaburah that learned with Rav Berel Soloveitchik ZT”L, and through that connection he developed an exceptionally close relationship with the Brisker Rav, Rav Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik ZT”L. He became one of the close talmidim of the Brisker Rav and was a regular at the Soloveitchik home.
Rav Hershel was also a close talmid of the Chazon Ish, with whom he would regularly talk in learning.
The levaya is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday at Shomrei Hadas Chapel in Boro Park.
Besuros Tovos
