Solomon Freilich

Rabbi Dr. Solomon (Shlomo) Freilich (1924-2021), born in New York City, was an Orthodox rabbi in the United States. He attended Yeshiva Chaim Berlin, and was given his semikhah by Rav Yitsḥaq Hutner. He received his doctoral degree from Yeshiva University in Biblical Studies. With a friend, he led the Hebrew Institute of St. Paul, Minnesota, and afterward served as rabbi of Anshe Shalom (New Rochelle, New York). From there, he went on to serve the Brothers of Israel synagogue in Mount Vernon, New York. He was among the first US rabbis to visit the Soviet Union in 1957, and was the guest of the chief rabbi of Moscow, Rabbi Judah Levin. (In turn, Rabbi Levin was the guest at Rabbi Freilich’s synagogue, the only visit in Westchester during his brief stay in America.) In July 1967, following the Six-Day War, Rabbi Freilich made a second visit to the Soviet Union, where he was detained for three days in Kyev by the Soviet authorities before being released.