Rav Finkel collapsed earlier this evening and paramedics performed CPR. Rav Finkel was in critical condition and tefillos were recited in yeshivaos across Eretz Yisroel.

Rav Finkel passed away moments ago.

Rav Aryeh was a son of Rav Chaim Zev Finkel zt”l, founder of Yeshivas Heichal Hatorah in Tel Aviv and mashgiach at Yeshivas Mir in Yerushalayim. He was a grandson of the Mirrer rosh yeshiva, Rav Leizer Yudel Finkel zt”l, and a cousin of the late rosh yeshiva, Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel zt”l.

In his youth, Rav Aryeh learned at Yeshivas Ponovezh in Bnei Brak. After his marriage to his wife, Rebbetzin Esther Gittel, a daughter of Rav Shmuel Aharon Yudelevich, he learned at Yeshivas Mir, where he was eventually appointed as a R”M in the yeshiva.

Rav Aryeh served in the position of mashgiach at Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim under the rosh yeshiva, Rav Chaim Shmulevitz zt”l, and over one decade ago assumed the position of rosh yeshiva in Brachfeld. He was the longtime shliach tzibbur on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur at Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim.

Rav Finkel was a scion of the royal family of Mir and a grandson of Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel zt”l, the eldest son of the Alter of Slabodka. For many years, he learned with his uncle, Rav Chaim Shmulevitz zt”l, preparing his shmuessen for publication. He also learned with Rav Nochum Partzovitz zt”l for many years.

He was a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Degel HaTorah and the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Mir in Modiin Illit. Like his illustrious rebbi, he delivered a weekly shiur klali and shmuess, and was considered one of the giants of machshavah in the Torah world.

The eldest son of the Alter of Slabodka, Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel zt”l, and his successor as rosh yeshiva was Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, known as Rav Leizer Yudel, son-in-law of Rav Eliyahu Boruch Kamai. Rav Leizer Yudel’s eldest son, Rav Chaim Zev Finkel, was the rosh yeshiva of Bais Hatalmud in Tel Aviv and later served as the mashgiach of Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim. Rav Leizer Yudel’s son-in-law, Rav Chaim Shmulevitz, was the rosh yeshiva of Mir.

Rav Aryeh was Rav Chaim Zev’s eldest son. Another son was Rav Moshe Finkel zt”l (whose wife, Rebbetzin Ramah Finkel, authored a book about her father-in-law titled Ha’Abba MiSlabodka). His sons-in-law are Rav Aharon Chodosh and Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl.

In his shmuessen, Rav Aryeh explained Medrashim, Gemaros, and maamarei Chazal on the most straightforward level, but when he spoke, the words became luminescent, taking on a special meaning and form. Perhaps it would be fitting to quote Rav Aryeh’s own words from the introduction to his sefer, Yavo Shilo: “Even though these things are basically simple and well-known, the words of Torah are like a coal. Their light is evident only through extensive study and analysis, which brings out the light and causes the flame to shine with all its colors.” That is exactly what Rav Aryeh did: He ignited the “coal,” turning it into a glowing “flame” that radiates light and brilliant color.

Rav Aryeh’s renowned shiurim on Sefer Mishlei, which he began delivering in his youth, achieved widespread popularity throughout the yeshiva world. He delivered a weekly vaad on Mishlei every Motzoei Shabbos for nearly four decades, as well as another, similar vaad every Thursday morning to the avreichim in the yeshiva’s kollel. His shiurim attracted a large crowd of avreichim, bochurim and residents of Yerushalayim, all of whom were drawn to hear Rav Aryeh’s brilliant blend of mussar and insights into life and avodas Hashem. The shiurim were later delivered at his home in Modiin Illit. Some of the shiurim have been published in another sefer titled Har Yeiraeh. (The word “yeiraeh,” in Hebrew, is an anagram of his name, Aryeh.) In each shiur, Rav Aryeh took a posuk that everyone knows and proceeds to analyze it, turning it over and over, and examining each word. Suddenly, his audience perceived the incredible depth of the posuk, the insights and secrets that it contains – in what seemed, just moments earlier, to be a bland statement with little significance beyond its surface meaning.

Rav Aryeh, in his great humility, always thanked the bochurim who attend the shiur for listening to him. In fact, he once wrote, “Hashem has given me the privilege of delving into the Torah in the presence of friends who listen to me.” Amazingly, this renowned rosh yeshiva used the term “friends” to refer to his students between the ages of 20 and 25.

Rav Aryeh invested tremendous effort not only in his shiurim and shmuessen, but in everything he did. Nothing was done casually, not even answering amein to a brachah. In fact, there was a set minhag among the talmidim in Rav Aryeh’s daily shiur for each talmid to recite a brachah aloud so that the rest can respond amein, also aloud. Every one of Rav Aryeh’s practices were imbued with great meaning.

Every Friday night, Rav Aryeh delivered a shmuess at the yeshiva. These shmuessen, which invariably begin with a topic pertaining to Shabbos and moved on to the parshah of the week, serve as the basis of his sefer, Yavo Shilo. In the preface to the sefer, the editors point out that in his shmuessen, Rav Aryeh urges his listeners to perceive Hashem’s Presence, His kindness, and His incredible Providence in the natural world through the kedushah of Shabbos. Rav Aryeh himself wrote in the introduction to his sefer, “The Torah is called shirah because it awakens the sense of life in the Next World. Therefore, on Shabbos – which represents the emunah on which the Torah is based – the strengthening of that emunah reinforces the sense of eternal life that is within us, and from that rises the song of the sweet singer of Yisroel [i.e., Dovid Hamelech in Sefer Tehillim], ‘Mizmor shir leyom haShabbos…’” It is only natural, then, that our conversation begins with the subject of Shabbos.

The stories of how Rav Aryeh toiled in his Torah study are known throughout the yeshiva world. He delivered shiurim regularly since he was 18 years old, but he approached every shiur as if it was his first. He was capable of spending many days laboring over a single sugya, delving into a single line of reasoning in the Rishonim or a single line in the Gemara for hours on end. He toiled over the teachings of his own rabbeim, and he stressed in every shiur that he is not presenting his own ideas, even when, in fact, he was delivering his own scintillating chiddushim. He often beamed with joy over a chiddush in learning. He was known to quote a “vort” from Rav Boruch Ber Leibowitz with such enthusiasm that he exclaims, “This is Torah min hashomayim!”

Rav Aryeh was always a paragon of hasmadah and of total absorption in Torah learning. In the bais medrash of his yeshiva, he was a living example of a person whose world contains nothing but Torah.

Born in Eretz Yisroel, Rav Finkel was raised in the world of the Mirrer Yeshiva. He grew up in the yeshiva. As children, he was part of it. The yeshiva was his life.

When Rav Aryeh’s father, the mashgiach, passed away, someone needed to take his place delivering shmuessen in the yeshiva. Rav Chaim Shmulevitz was asked to assume the responsibility, but he suggested that Rav Aryeh be given the position instead. Rav Aryeh, for his part, attempted to persuade his rebbi, Rav Chaim, to deliver the shmuessen himself. Veterans in the yeshiva recall that at that time, Rav Aryeh and Rav Chaim  could be seen walking back and forth together along Rechov Shmuel Hanovi, which runs adjacent to the yeshiva, as they discussed the situation. The ultimate result of that shared walk was that Rav Chaim indeed agreed to deliver the shmuessen.

Rav Aryeh deserves partial credit for the development of Sichos Mussar, the compilation of Rav Chaim’s shmuessen that can be found in almost any Torah home. It was Rav Aryeh himself who transcribed the shmuessen and prepared them for publication. In his home, Rav Aryeh possessed an old copy of Rav Chaim’s printed lectures, in which Rav Chaim himself penned a warm inscription, noting that if not for Rav Aryeh, the sefer never would have been published.

Yehi zichro boruch.