The education of Chaim Grade
Chaim Grade studied for a while in a small yeshiva a branch of Navaradok, whose Rosh was Rav Gershon Liebman (See the story My Quarrel with Hirsch Rayssiner). He later studied with the Chazon Ish on a private basis. The Chazon Ish did this as a favor to Mrs. Grade a frume yidene who wanted her son to be a yeshiva man.
The only bachurim to study in Brisk were senior people in the Mir and Kaminetz, etc. who were metzuyanim in their late 20's and 30's like Rav Yeruchem Garelik and Reb Michel Feinstein. Brisk was not a yeshiva. Rav Velvele did not run a yeshiva, he had a kibbutz of 20-30 bachurim each zeman who learnt the derech of Rav Chaim from him. This was not for the average Yeshiva mann. They studied only Talmud not Horah, as Rav Velvele did not pasken dinim in Brisk.
One must realize that at that time the Brisker derech was just beginning to conquer the yeshiva world so the best talmidim went there to study from the kli Rishon Rav Velvele.
Brisk had a less famous local yeshiva ketana I believe run by a Rav Sokolovsky but this was basically a local school where people like Rav Shtainman Shlit'a studied. Chaim Grade left the eylam hatore at an early age probably 18 and Chaim Grade became Chaikel Vilner a member of the Yung Vilna literary group. I met Grade and had the zechus to speak with him for over 1 hour.
From conversations I had with my alte father A"H. I gleamed the following. Many bachurim from chasidic homes studied in Navorodok schools because there were many of them and they were FRUM. The Pinsk branch attracted many bachurim fromt the western White Russia region. My cousin Reb Shmayrahu Alperowitz HaYaD studied there and later became the Chabad shochet and Metz in Radishkovitz White Russia.
-Schneur
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 7:45 AM
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