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Ben Tzion Abba Shaul
Ben Zion Abba Shaul ( he, בן-ציון אבא-שאול; 31 July 1924 – 13 July 1998; on the Hebrew calendar: 29 Tammuz 5684 – 19 Tammuz 5758) (first name also spelled Ben Sion) was one of the leading Sephardic rabbis, Torah scholars and halakhic arbiters of his day, and the rosh yeshiva of Porat Yosef Yeshiva in Jerusalem for the last 15 years of his life. He was responsible for a religious revival among Sephardic Jews with his founding of Ma'ayan HaChinuch HaTorani, a network of Torah schools for Sephardic children in Israel, and was widely known for his ability to give blessings that were fulfilled. Early life Ben Zion Abba Shaul was born in Jerusalem to Eliyahu and Benaya Abba Shaul, immigrants from Iran. A shoemaker by trade, Eliyahu was also a Torah scholar and kabbalist; he was Ben Zion's first teacher. Eliyahu served as ''gabbai'' (caretaker and fundraiser) for the Ohel Rachel synagogue in the Bukharim Quarter of Jerusalem for 50 years. In his old age, hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rosh Yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva ( he, ראש ישיבה, pl. he, ראשי ישיבה, '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and the Torah, and ''halakha'' (Jewish law). The general role of the rosh yeshiva is to oversee the Talmudic studies and practical matters. The rosh yeshiva will often give the highest ''shiur'' (class) and is also the one to decide whether to grant permission for students to undertake classes for rabbinical ordination, known as ''semicha''. The term is a compound of the Hebrew words ''rosh'' ("head") and ''yeshiva'' (a school of religious Jewish education). The rosh yeshiva is required to have a comprehensive knowledge of the Talmud and the ability to analyse and present new perspectives, called ''chidushim'' (novellae) verbally and often in print. In some institutions, such as YU's Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Semin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hazzan
A ''hazzan'' (; , lit. Hazan) or ''chazzan'' ( he, חַזָּן , plural ; Yiddish ''khazn''; Ladino ''Hasan'') is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer. In English, this prayer leader is often referred to as a cantor, a term also used in Christianity. ''Sh'liaḥ tzibbur'' and the evolution of the hazzan The person leading the congregation in public prayers is called the '' sh'liaḥ tzibbur'' (Hebrew for "emissary of the congregation"). Jewish law restricts this role to adult Jews; among Orthodox Jews, it is restricted to males. In theory, any lay person can be a ''sh'liaḥ tzibbur''; many synagogue-attending Jews will serve in this role from time to time, especially on weekdays or when having a Yartzeit. Someone with good Hebrew pronunciation is preferred. In practice, in synagogues without an official Hazzan, those with the best voice and the most knowledge of the prayers serve most often. As publi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz
Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz (7 November 1878 – 24 October 1953), also known as the Chazon Ish () after his magnum opus, was a Belarusian-born Orthodox rabbi who later became one of the leaders of Haredi Judaism in Israel, where he spent his final 20 years, from 1933 to 1953. Biography Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz was born in Kosava, in the Grodno Governorate of the Russian Empire (now Brest Region, Belarus), the son of Shmaryahu Yosef Karelitz, the rabbi of Kosava; his mother was Rasha Leah, the daughter of Shaul Katzenelbogen.Shdeour, E. "Harav Yitzchak Karelitz of Kosova, ''Hy"d''". ''Hamodia'', 12 January 2012, p. C2. Avraham Yeshaya was born after his older brother Meir. His younger brothers were Yitzchak and Moshe. Yitzchak succeeded their father as the rabbi of Kosava; he and his wife and daughter were shot to death in their home by the Germans in mid-1942. His oldest sisters were Henya Chaya, Badana, Tzivia and Batya. Karelitz's youngest sister, Pesha Miriam (Miri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ben Ish Chai
Yosef Hayim (1 September 1835 – 30 August 1909) ( Iraqi Hebrew: Yoseph Ḥayyim; he, יוסף חיים מבגדאד) was a leading Baghdadi ''hakham'' (Sephardi rabbi), authority on ''halakha'' (Jewish law), and Master Kabbalist. He is best known as author of the work on ''halakha'' ''Ben Ish Ḥai'' () ("Son of Man (who) Lives"), a collection of the laws of everyday life interspersed with mystical insights and customs, addressed to the masses and arranged by the weekly Torah portion. Biography Hayim initially studied in his father's library, and, at the age of 10, he left ''midrash'' ("school room") and began to study with his uncle, David Hai Ben Meir, who later founded the Shoshanim LeDavid Yeshiva in Jerusalem. In 1851, he married Rachel, the niece of Abdallah Somekh, his prime mentor, with whom he had a daughter and two sons. When Hayim was only twenty-five years old, his father died. Despite his youth, the Jews of Baghdad accepted him to fill his father's place as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meir Simcha Of Dvinsk
Meir Simcha of Dvinsk (1843–1926) was a rabbi and prominent leader of Orthodox Judaism in Eastern Europe in the early 20th century. He was a kohen, and is therefore often referred to as ''Meir Simcha ha-Kohen'' ("Meir Simcha the Kohen"). He is known for his writings on Maimonides' Mishneh Torah, which he titled '' Ohr Somayach'', as well as his novellae on the Torah, titled ''Meshech Chochma''. Biography Meir Simcha was born in Butrimonys ( yi, Baltrimantz), Lithuania, to Samson Kalonymus, a local wealthy merchant. According to family tradition, his later success in Torah study was attributed to two blessings his parents had received from local rabbis before his birth. He received his education locally, and managed to evade the regular roundups of Jewish boys that were being held as a result of the Cantonist decrees that had been in effect since 1827. After marrying in 1860, at age 17, he settled in Białystok, Poland, where he was supported by his wife, who opened a business t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tohorot
''Tohorot'' (Hebrew: טָהֳרוֹת, literally "Purities") is the sixth and last order of the Mishnah (also of the Tosefta and Talmud). This order deals with the clean/unclean distinction and family purity. This is the longest of the orders in the Mishnah. There are 12 tractates: #''Keilim:'' (כלים "Vessels"); deals with a large array of various utensils and how they fare in terms of purity. 30 chapters, the longest in the Mishnah. #''Oholot:'' (אוהלות "Tents"); deals with the uncleanness from a corpse and its peculiar property of defiling people or objects either by the latter "tenting" over the corpse, or by the corpse "tenting" over them, or by the presence of both corpse and person or object under the same roof or tent. #''Nega'im:'' (נגעים "Plagues"); deals with the laws of the ''tzaraath''. #''Parah:'' (פרה "Cow"); deals largely with the laws of the Red Heifer ''(Para Adumah)''. #''Tohorot:'' (טהרות "Purities"); deals with miscellaneous laws of puri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eliezer Silver
Eliezer Silver ( he, אליעזר סילבר; February 15, 1882Social Security Death Index - February 7, 1968 ) was the President of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the U.S. and Canada and among American Jewry's foremost religious leaders. He helped save many thousands of Jews in the Second World War and held several Rabbinical positions in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Ohio. Biography Silver was born in Obeliai, Lithuania, one of two sons of Rabbi Bunim Tzemach (1844–1917) and Malka Silver. He had centuries-old rabbinic ancestry. He studied in Daugavpils, with Rabbi Yosef Rosen (the "Rogatchover Gaon") and received Semicha from Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski in 1906. He immigrated to the United States with his wife in 1907, to escape the anti-Semitism of Czarist Russia. They settled in New York City, where Silver worked as a garment salesman and later sold insurance. However, Silver soon accepted a Rabbinical position at Kesher Israel Congregation in Harrisburg, Pen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewish cultural life and was foundational to "all Jewish thought and aspirations", serving also as "the guide for the daily life" of Jews. The term ''Talmud'' normally refers to the collection of writings named specifically the Babylonian Talmud (), although there is also an earlier collection known as the Jerusalem Talmud (). It may also traditionally be called (), a Hebrew abbreviation of , or the "six orders" of the Mishnah. The Talmud has two components: the Mishnah (, 200 CE), a written compendium of the Oral Torah; and the Gemara (, 500 CE), an elucidation of the Mishnah and related Tannaitic writings that often ventures onto other subjects and expounds broadly on the Hebrew Bible. The term "Talmud" may refer to eith ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ezra Attiya
Ezra Attiya ( he, עזרא עטייה; ar, عزرا عطية; 31 January 1885 – 25 May 1970) was one of the greatest teachers of Torah in the Sephardic Jewish world during the 20th century. He was rosh yeshiva of Porat Yosef Yeshiva in Jerusalem for 45 years, nurturing thousands of students who, together with their students, constitute the bulk of Sephardic Torah leadership today. Early life Attiya was born on 31 January 1885 ( Tu Bishvat 5645 on the Jewish calendar) in Aleppo, Syria, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire. His parents, Yitzchak and Leah, had lost several children in infancy, and before his birth they traveled to the gravesite of the Prophet Ezra to pray that if the child they were expecting was a boy, they would name him Ezra and see that he dedicated himself to a life of Torah. He had one brother, Eliyahu. His father, a respected Aleppo melamed (teacher),Daykin, R. "Harav Ezra Attiya, zt"l, Rosh Yeshivah, Yeshivat Porat Yosef – On his 41st yahr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shiur (Torah)
Shiur (, , lit. ''amount'', pl. shiurim ) is a lecture on any Torah topic, such as Gemara, Mishnah, Halakha (Jewish law), Tanakh (Bible), etc. History The Hebrew term שיעור ("designated amount") came to refer to a portion of Judaic text arranged for study on a particular occasion, such as a yartzeit, the dedication of a new home, or the evening of a holiday, and then to a public reading and explanation of the same. The act of teaching and studying these texts at the designated time was known in Yiddish as ''schiur lernen''. These shiurim would be attended by all classes of people; it was traditional for learned attendees to engage the lecturer in continuous discussion, and for the larger lay audience to listen intently. Concurrently, the word came to refer to the daily study quotient for students of a yeshiva, and then to the lecture given thereon. Akiva Eger, for example,would not miss learning a single ''shiur'' with the yeshiva. His ''shiurim'' with them were ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ovadiah Yosef
Ovadia Yosef ( he, , Ovadya Yosef, ; September 24, 1920 – October 7, 2013) was an Iraqi-born Talmudic scholar, a posek, the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1973 to 1983, and a founder and long-time spiritual leader of Israel's ultra-Orthodox Shas party. Yosef's responsa were highly regarded within Haredi circles, particularly among Mizrahi communities, among whom he was regarded as "the most important living halakhic authority". Biography Early life Yosef was born in Baghdad, Ottoman Iraq, to Yaakov Ben Ovadia and his wife, Gorgia. In 1924, when he was four years old, he immigrated to Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine, with his family. In Palestine, the family adopted the surname "Ovadia". Later in life, Ovadia Yosef changed his surname to be his middle name, "Yosef", to avoid the confusion of being called "Ovadia Ovadia". The family settled in the Beit Yisrael neighborhood of Jerusalem, where Yaakov operated a grocery store. The family was poor, and Yosef was forced to wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chief Rabbi
Chief Rabbi ( he, רב ראשי ''Rav Rashi'') is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel, Israel has had two chief rabbis, one Ashkenazi and one Sephardi. Cities with large Jewish communities may also have their own chief rabbis; this is especially the case in Israel but has also been past practice in major Jewish centers in Europe prior to the Holocaust. North American cities rarely have chief rabbis. One exception however is Montreal, with two—one for the Ashkenazi community, the other for the Sephardi. Jewish law provides no scriptural or Talmudic support for the post of a "chief rabbi." The office, however, is said by many to find its precedent in the religio-political authority figures of Jewish antiquity (e.g., kings, high priests, patriarches, exilarchs and ''gaonim''). T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
