During his years in Berlin, Soloveitchik became a close disciple of Hayyim Heller, who had established an institute for advanced Jewish Studies from an Orthodox perspective in the city. He also made the acquaintance of other young scholars pursuing a similar path to his own. One such figure was Yitzchok Hutner, who would become the rosh yeshiva of the Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin, also in Brooklyn, New York. Both of them developed a system of thought that bridged the Eastern European way of traditional scholarship with the new forces of modernity in the Western World. Among the other personalities with whom he came into contact were the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Professor Alexander Altmann, Yehiel Yaakov Weinberg, Rector of the Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary, and Professor Yeshayahu Leibowitz.