Gorelick was born in
Slutsk in 1911 to Rabbi Avrohom Moshe, the son-in-law of Rabbi Yerucham of Dubrov. Rabbi Yerucham of Dubrov, his namesake, was close to the
Beis HaLevi, and earned the nickname, "Rav Yerucham Charif" (the Sharp One). Rabbi Avrohom Moshe served as rav in several towns in Poland. In 1927, when the
Bolsheviks were persecuting the rabbis, the family immigrated to America, but Rabbi Gorelick stayed behind in Europe. In his early youth, Gorelick learned in the
Łomza Yeshiva, and then spent ten years in the
Chofetz Chaim's yeshiva in Radin, where he learned with Rabbi
Naftoli Trop and Rabbi Moshe Landynski. Afterwards, he studied in
Brisk for five years under Rabbi
Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik until the outbreak of
World War II. In 1938, he married a woman from Brisk, the daughter of Rabbi Shmuel Yehudah Belkes, a lay leader of the community who owned a coal factory. Rabbi Gorelick escaped with his wife and family to
Vilna, and continued his studies there with Rabbi Soloveitchik in 1940. == America ==