On Sunday, 25 Tishrei 5785, the Torah world was shocked and dismayed to learn of the untimely petirah of Rav Shlomo Chai Dovid Yitzchok Halioua, zt”l, the rosh yeshivah of Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin. Rav Halioua, who was only 66 years old, had assumed the mantle of leadership only a year ago, after the passing of his father-in-law, Rav Aharon Schechter, zt”l. It is the third blow for the yeshivah in a little over a year, after the passing of Rav Aharon and his son, Rav Mordechai Zelig Schechter, zt”l, the mashgiach of the yeshivah.
Rav Shlomo was born to his father Rav Avraham, who immigrated to the United States from Morocco, having been brought over by Rav Avraham Kalmanovitz. The rosh yeshivah once related that his father had stayed in the ship’s kitchen throughout the entire trip to ensure that the kashrus was up to his high standards. Rav Avraham served as the rav of a Sephardic shul in Brooklyn until his passing.
As a boy, Rav Halioua learned in the Yeshiva of Brooklyn under Rav Feivel Cohen, where he quickly gained a reputation as a masmid and iluy. Someone who was in summer camp with him after the eighth grade remembered that, unlike most boys, the future rosh yeshivah spent almost all of his time learning. When he was only 15 years old, Pirchei Agudas Israel of America announced a nationwide contest for bachurim to learn during the 12-day Pesach break. Of the over 300 bachurim who participated, the young Shlomo Halioua won the competition by a great margin, learning for over 75 hours.
The rosh yeshivah went on to learn in Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin as well as under Rav Binyomin Paler, where his genius, breadth of knowledge and deep understanding of the sugyos immediately stood out. Rav Aharon Schechter took note of the young Sephardic talmid chacham and later took him as a son-in-law. Rav Shlomo also learned in Brisk by Rav Berel Soloveitchik, who passed away a few months after his arrival.
Rav Shlomo gradually rose through the ranks of the hanhalah at Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin, going from rosh chaburah to rosh kollel to maggid shiur to ultimately succeeding Rav Aharon Schechter as rosh yeshivah.

Gadlus BaTorah

Even as a young bachur, friends recognized that he was destined for greatness. “Whenever we would go off to play ball or just stand around and schmooze and invite him to join in, he would politely decline and go back to his learning,” a friend from Rav Shlomo’s youth told Ami Magazine. “He was like a prince: quiet and refined, but also unassuming and humble. He would never make a big deal about it or draw attention to himself with arrogance. When he declined to participate in whatever we were up to, he would simply say, ‘Not right now.’ He would then leave without throwing it in our faces that he was going to the beis midrash.”
By his early 20s, the rosh yeshivah was already known as a baki b’Shas. Nonetheless, he was unpretentious and unassuming. “He was careful to never show how much he knew, but when we spoke to him in learning and asked a kushya, he would often refute it with marei mekomos from all over Shas,” an acquaintance recalled. “And his sources were not only from the Gemara, Rashi or Tosafos but other Rishonim as well. Whereas most bachurim’s idea of relaxation was to take a nap or go out and blow off some steam, Rav Shlomo would lie down while chazering dafim after a few arduous hours of iyun.”
His hasmadah also extended to his dedication to giving shiur. “Rav Shlomo had a daughter who passed away at a young age,” the friend related. “During her illness, Rav Shlomo accompanied her to her treatments. Nonetheless, he still made sure to always be back in time for shiur no matter how exhausted he was, both physically and emotionally.” During his recent illness when he was very weak, he still tried to give shiur even though it was very difficult for him.
When Rav Shlomo got his first shtelle in the yeshivah, the true breadth and wealth of his brilliance started to shine through. “Although every maggid shiur has his own chiddushim and nuanced differences, they are usually on the same areas of the sugya. Rav Shlomo had lomdishe chiddushim in areas where others didn’t see any place to be mechadesh.”
“I wouldn’t refer to him as a peer, he was so far beyond us,” one person recalled. “He always had his face buried in Rishonim and early Acharonim. He would also learn the sugya the same way that they did. It often happened that when we came to him with he’aros or chiddushim of some contemporary Acharonim, he would show us a Rishon who had already come up with that chiddush. And these Rishonim were not usually the ones contained in the kovetz. They were usually the more obscure ones. Even if it was a Rashba or a Ritva, they could even be a diyuk in the middle of a long shtikel in a seemingly unrelated sugya in a different masechta.”
Around 25 years ago, Rav Shlomo assumed his most recent position of saying the highest-level shiur. “In those days, the yungeleit would take turns saying chaburah once a week,” a former talmid recalled. “That first week it was my turn. When Rav Shlomo asked me what I was planning to say it on, I gave him a short version of my shtikel. He immediately took my carefully crafted chaburah and disproved it in several places. At first, I tried to defend my chiddush, but I quickly realized that I was outmatched. There was nothing for me to do but concede that I couldn’t say the chaburah. At that, the rosh yeshivah looked dismayed and his expression betrayed that he regretted having asked me about the shtikel. It was clear that he hadn’t meant to disprove it but had simply been overcome with a passion for Torah. He excused himself and went into his office. An hour later, he called me in and suggested a mehalech that would answer his question on my chiddush and allow me to give my chaburah with the entire thing intact. He was so determined not to discourage me or damage my self-confidence that he did everything he could to salvage it.”
Even when Rav Aharon Schechter was still running the yeshivah, Rav Shlomo would farher the yungeleit who wanted to join the kollel. As one avreich related, “I had prepared a complicated shtikel on a part of Sefiras Ha’omer that isn’t typically discussed in the Acharonim. After only a few questions, the rosh yeshivah recognized where I was going and completed the shtikel for me while I was only able to add a few more diyukim. I was initially dismayed, because I was certain that I wasn’t going to be accepted since my vort had been so obvious. I was very relieved when Rav Shlomo smiled at the end of our conversation and welcomed me to the yeshivah. When I later replayed the whole exchange, I realized that not only was he a tremendous talmid chacham and gaon, but he was also a big meivin who was ro’eh es hanolad.”
One time, a yungerman told Rav Shlomo a diyuk in Ein Yaakov. The rosh yeshivah’s face showed his surprise, and he blurted out, “I just learned something new in this sugya.” “He wasn’t saying this sarcastically or out of gaavah,” the yungerman said. “He was genuinely surprised that he hadn’t explored that particular sugya to its fullest. It was not a rich sugya with a lot of reid.”
The rosh yeshivah was known for his ability to discuss difficult and complicated inyanim without any preparation. “We once began a chaburah in Kodshim at a time when the yeshivah was learning Kesubos and the kollel chaburah was learning Chullin. One day, Rav Shlomo had just come back on the red-eye flight from Los Angeles. In the morning, he gave a chaburah on Chullin, said shiur on Kesubos in the afternoon, and after Minchah a few of us asked him about a difficult Tosafos in Menachos. He launched into a lengthy, in-depth discussion on its finer details without missing a beat.”
Talmidim always marveled at Rav Shlomo’s immediate recall from the entire yam haTorah. “He could remember long and complex divrei Torah that he had delivered decades earlier. When we were learning about muktzah, Rav Shlomo’s oldest son Rav Yosef mentioned that he once heard his father say a chaburah on that particular aspect of the sugya. The rosh yeshivah had last said shiurim on muktzah 31 years ago when he was still the rosh kollel of the older avreichim. I went to ask Rav Shlomo if he had notes from that era so I could take a look at what he said. He replied that he didn’t, but he asked which specific part of the sugya I was asking about. As soon as I mentioned it, he immediately began reciting the shtikel, quoting from Rishonim word for word as if he had just learned them in depth.”
When the yungerman related this story to another avreich, he didn’t look surprised. “He told me that he had once mentioned a chiddush in Yerushalmi to Rav Shlomo, thinking that he would be mechadesh something. ‘The Turei Even already makes this diyuk in Chagigah where Tosafos quotes this Yerushalmi,’ he had replied. His fluency and breadth were astounding.”

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