Memory Lane: Rav Avrohom Yaakov Brill

The rov of Chevra Bnei Yisroel on 15th Avenue between the years of 1933 and 1943 was Rav Avrohom Yaakov Brill, a literal genius who hailed from Sokoly, and was the son-in-law of Rav Itzele Rabinowitz of Ponovezh.  

The ‘Iluy of Sokoly’ 

Rav Avrohom Yaakov was born in the town of Sokoły, located about 50 km west of Biyalistok, Poland. His father was Reb Pesach Brill, a wealthy and well-known personality in the town. The family business involved buying and selling old clothes, and the Brill’s were very successful and lived a comfortable life. 

Along with his inculcation toward a life of Torah, Avrohom Yaakov was also raised by his father in the ways of chessed. While still a young man, Reb Pesach—along with two friends, Herzl Gutman and Zalman Yachness—organized a new chevra kaddisha, which required poor people to pay only three rubles for their services instead of the usual fifty or sixty.

When Avraham Yaakov was a young child, his mother passed away and his father remarried.  

The young boy stood out as a brilliant prodigy in Sokoły. So much so, that there was legend in the town that the malach forgot to slap him before he was born, and he remembered the entire Tanach by heart, and had mastered the entire Shas by heart while still in his teens. “Among the great lomdim of the city were Reb Pesach Brill and his son Avrohom Yaakov. As a young boy, many Rabbonim—including Rav Chaim Ozer of Vilna—invited him to come speak with them in learning,” the Sokoly Yizkor book informs us.   

At the age of thirteen, Avrohom Yaakov was sent to learn in the Ponovezeher Yeshiva. He probably did not know that he would marry and settle in that city, eventually. 

Boro Park 

Rav Avrohom Yaakov arrived in America alone in January of the year 1931, upon which time we read the following in Hapardes: “A great and distinguished guest. The famed ga’on Rav Avrohom Yaakov Brill, known as the Sokoler iluy, has arrived in America. He is the son-in-law of the true ga’on, Sar HaTorah, Rav Yitzchok Yaakov Rabinowitz, who is known as Rav Itze’le Ponevezher. He has come with ‘Torah in his hand,’ the writings of his father-in-law, the aforementioned ga’on, which exude the beauty and the glory [of Torah], and are filled with brilliance, sharpness and erudition, and exceptional depth throughout. 

“It is hoped that the rabbonim of our country, balebatim and supportters of Torah, will appreciate the purpose of the arrival of the son-in-law of the great ga’on, and enable him to print his sefer.”

His patron upon his arrival was none other than his landsman from Sokoly, the legendary Rav Tzvi Hirsch Dachowitz, rov of the Nusach Ari shul in Brownsville. Rav Hirsch took in his old childhood friend, and found him work as an assistant Rabbi of the Shul. 

The rest of the family arrived in 1933, and it was around this time that the remaining family members arrived. This was when he took up the position as rov of Congregation Bnei Israel. He also worked as a mashgiach, giving his hechsher on a number of provisions, including Chow Main noodles. 

Sadly, Rav Avrohom Yaakov passed away in 1943 from health complications, and it was during this difficult time too that Rav Hirsch Dachowitz came to the family’s aid, setting up a fund that would support them.  

Following his petirah, the Agudas Harabonim of America lamented his passing: “We express our deep sadness upon the passing of our dear chaver, Rav Avrohom Yaakov Brill, the son-in-law of the great ga’on, Rabban Shel Yisroel, Rav Yitzchok Rabinowitz, ABD Ponovezh. 

“This great rov of who had been at the pinnacle of stature sadly descended from it, and was forced to exile to our country where he did not find a position that befit his caliber, and he suffered from poverty and illness. Thus, he suffered until his last days. Woe unto his family and his admirers.” 

Rav Avrohom Yaakov was laid to rest in the society of Anshei Sokoly in Mount Lebanon, following a decade of rabbonus in Boro Park of yore.