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Yitzchak Isaac Sher
Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Sher was the ''rosh yeshiva'' of the Slabodka Yeshiva in Lithuania and Bnei Brak. He was the son-in-law of Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, the Alter of Slabodka. Early life Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Sher was born in Halusk, Belarus c. 1875 to R' Yosef Chaim and Esther Leah Sher. After completing ''cheder'', he and other students began attending a class given by Rabbi Baruch Ber Leibowitz, who served as the city's rabbi at that time. He then went to study in the Volozhin Yeshiva under Rabbi Refael Shapiro. After hearing a lecture from the Alter of Slabodka in Halusk, Yitzchak Isaac was inspired and joined his yeshiva in Slabodka, Yeshiva Knesses Yisrael, where he studied with Avraham Grodzinski (later a ''mashgiach ruchani'' in the yeshiva). In 1903, Rabbi Sher married Maryasha Gittel Finkel, a daughter of the Alter of Slabodka. The couple moved to Kelmė where he developed a close relationship with Rabbi Simcha Zissel Ziv (the ''Alter of Kelm''). He studied for a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yeshiva Knesses Yisrael (Slabodka)
Yeshivas Knesses Yisrael was a yeshiva located in the town of Sloboda Vilyampolskaya in Kovno Governorate of Russian Empire (now Vilijampolė in Kaunas, Lithuania). It was known colloquially as the "mother of yeshivas" and was devoted to high-level study of the Talmud. It functioned from the late 19th century until World War II. Origins From the second half of the 19th century, Kovno became a center of Jewish cultural activity in Lithuania. Prominent there were Yitzchak Elchanan Spektor (the "Kovner Rav"; officiated 1864-96); Abraham Mapu, one of the first modern Hebrew writers; and Israel Isidor Elyashev, the "Ba'al Makhshoves", the first Yiddish literary critic. The yeshivot of Slobodka, in particular the Or HaChaim yeshivah founded by Tzvi Levitan about 1863 (also known as Yeshivas R' Hirschel), attracted students from other countries and were headed by noted scholars. Nosson Tzvi Finkel, also known as "Der Alter fun Slabodka" (The Elder of Slabodka), who had also founded s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volozhin Yeshiva
Yeshivas Etz Ḥayyim (), commonly called the Volozhin Yeshiva (), was a prestigious Lithuanian ''yeshiva'' located in the town of Volozhin, Russian Empire (now Valozhyn, Belarus). It was founded around 1803 by Rabbi Ḥayyim Volozhiner, a student of the famed Vilna Gaon, and trained several generations of scholars, rabbis, and leaders. It is considered the first modern ''yeshiva'', and served as a model for later Misnagedic educational institutions. The institution reached its zenith under the leadership of Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, who became ''rosh yeshiva'' in 1854. In 1892, demands of the Russian authorities to increase secular studies forced the ''yeshiva'' to close. It re-opened on a smaller scale in 1899 and functioned until the outbreak of World War II in 1939. During the War German soldiers used the building as a stable, and it was subsequently converted into a canteen and deli. The site was returned to the Jewish community of Belarus in 1989. It is considered a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the same as Pentateuch or the Five Books of Moses. It is also known in the Jewish tradition as the Written Torah (, ). If meant for liturgic purposes, it takes the form of a Torah scroll ('' Sefer Torah''). If in bound book form, it is called ''Chumash'', and is usually printed with the rabbinic commentaries (). At times, however, the word ''Torah'' can also be used as a synonym for the whole of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, in which sense it includes not only the first five, but all 24 books of the Hebrew Bible. Finally, Torah can even mean the totality of Jewish teaching, culture, and practice, whether derived from biblical texts or later rabbinic writings. The latter is often known as the Oral Torah. Representing the core of the Jewish spiri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gemara
The Gemara (also transliterated Gemarah, or in Yiddish Gemo(r)re; from Aramaic , from the Semitic root ג-מ-ר ''gamar'', to finish or complete) is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah written in 63 books. At first, Gemara was only transmitted orally and was forbidden to be written down, however after the Mishnah was published by Judah the Prince (c. 200 CE), the work was studied exhaustively by generation after generation of rabbis in Babylonia and the Land of Israel. Their discussions were written down in a series of books that became the Gemara, which when combined with the Mishnah constituted the Talmud. There are two versions of the Gemara. The Jerusalem Talmud (Talmud Yerushalmi), also known as the Palestinian Talmud, was compiled by Jewish scholars of the Land of Israel, primarily of the academies of Tiberias and Caesarea, and was published between about 350–400 CE. The Talmud Bavli (Babylonian Talmud) was pu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Eliezer Yehudah Finkel
Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, also known as Reb Leizer Yudel Finkel, (1879–1965) was the Rosh Yeshiva of Mir yeshiva in both its Polish and Jerusalemic incarnates. Early life Finkel was the son of the celebrated Mussar leader, the Alter of Slabodka. He studied under the famed Rabbi Chaim Soloveichik in Brisk (see Brisk yeshiva), where he developed a friendship with Rabbi Shlomo Polachek whom he later met on a fundraising trip in America in 1926. He also studied in Raduń Yeshiva where he was reputed to have mastered the entire Talmud at the age of 17. In 1903, Finkel married Malka, the daughter of Rabbi Eliyahu Boruch Kamai who was the Rosh Yeshiva of the yeshiva in Mir, Belarus. Three years later he joined the staff of the Mir Yeshiva, and in 1917 became its Rosh Yeshiva upon the death of his father-in-law. During the interwar period, the Mir Yeshiva flourished under Finkel's leadership to the point that its enrollment grew close to 500 students from all over the world. Also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mir Yeshiva (Belarus)
The Mir Yeshiva ( he, ישיבת מיר, ''Yeshivas Mir''), commonly known as the Mirrer Yeshiva ( yi, מירער ישיבה) or The Mir, was a Lithuanian yeshiva located in the town of Mir, Russian Empire (now Belarus). After relocating a number of times during World War II, it has evolved into three yeshivas, one in Jerusalem, with a subsidiary campus in Brachfeld, Modi'in Illit, and the other two in Brooklyn, New York: the Mir Yeshiva, and Bais Hatalmud. Origins The Mirrer Yeshiva was founded in 1815, 12 years after the founding of the Volozhin Yeshiva, by one of the prominent residents of a small town called Mir (then in Grodno Governorate, Russian Empire), Rabbi Shmuel Tiktinsky. After Rav Shmuel's death, his youngest son, Rabbi Chaim Leib Tiktinsky, was appointed rosh yeshiva. He was succeeded by his son, Rav Avrohom, who brought Rabbi Eliyahu Boruch Kamai into the yeshiva. During Rabbi Kamai's tenure the direction of the yeshiva wavered between those who wished to in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamodia
''Hamodia'' ( he, המודיע – "''the Informer''") is a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in Jerusalem. A daily English-language edition is also published in the United States, and weekly English-language editions in England and Israel. A weekly edition for French-speaking readers debuted in 2008. The newspaper's slogan is "The Newspaper of Torah Jewry". It comes with two magazines, ''Inyan'' and ''Prime''. ''Haaretz'', the newspaper of Israel's secular left, describes ''Hamodia'' as one of the "most powerful" newspapers in the Haredi community. History ''Hamodia'' was founded in 1950 by Rabbi Yehuda Leib Levin, son of the Agudat Israel leader Rabbi Yitzhak-Meir Levin of Warsaw and Jerusalem. Its current director general is Rabbi Chaim Moshe Knopf, and its deputy director general is Knopf's son, Rabbi Elazar Knopf. English-language edition The English-language edition of ''Hamodia'' is published by Levin's daughter, Ruth Lichtenstein. It was first printed on February ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simcha Zissel Ziv
Simcha Zissel Ziv Broida ( he, שמחה זיסל זיו; 1824–1898), also known as Simhah Zissel Ziv or the ''Alter of Kelm'' (the Elder of Kelm), was one of the foremost students of Yisrael Salanter and one of the early leaders of the Musar movement. He is best known as the founder and director of the Kelm Talmud Torah. Early life Simcha Zissel Ziv was born as Simcha Mordechai Ziskind Broida in 1824 in Kelmė. His father, Yisroel, belonged to the well-known Lithuanian Braude family. His mother, Chaya, was a descendant of Zvi Ashkenazi, "the Chacham Tzvi". Chaya's family name was Ziv, and her son took on his mother's family name when he moved to Grobin in 1880. Ziv married Sara Leah, the daughter of Mordechai of Vidzh, a small town near Kelm. Following his marriage he travelled to Kovno, where he studied under his foremost mentor, Yisrael Salanter, the founder of the Musar movement, at the Nevyozer Kloiz. Among the other outstanding students were Yitzchak Blazer, and Naftali ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kelmė
Kelmė (; is a city in northwestern Lithuania, a historical region of Samogitia. It has a population of 8,206 and is the administrative center of the Kelmė district municipality. History Kelmė's name may come from the Lithuanian ''kelmynės'', literally: ''the stubby place'', because of the forests that were there at the time of its founding. Kelmė was first mentioned in 1416, the year that Kelmė's first church was built. Prior to World War II, Kelmė ( yi, Kelm) was home to a famous Rabbinical College, the Kelm Talmud Torah. According to an 1897 census, 2,710 of Kelme's 3,914 inhabitants were members of the town's Jewish population, the vast majority of whom were merchants and traders and lived in the town. Most of the Jews in Kelmė rural district were murdered during a mass execution on July 29, 1941. On August 22 a second mass execution occurred. On October 2, 1941, some Kelmė and Vaiguva Jews were murdered in Žagarė. The executions were committed by Lithuanians na ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mashgiach Ruchani
A mashgiach ruchani ( he, משגיח רוחני; pl., ''mashgichim ruchani'im'') or mashgicha ruchani – sometimes mashgiach/mashgicha for short – is a spiritual supervisor or guide. He or she is usually a rabbi who has an official position within a yeshiva and is responsible for the non-academic areas of yeshiva students' lives.''HaRav Schach: Conversations: Stories to Inspire the Yeshiva World''. Elʻazar Menaḥem Man Shakh - 2004 p52: "Speaking about the position of Mashgiach Ruchani (Spiritual Supervisor) in a yeshiva, Rav Schach used to say that while it goes without saying that the Mashgiach must be a God-fearing man, and a person capable of inspiring others with his ..." The position of mashgiach/mashgicha ruchani arose with the establishment of the modern "Lithuanian Jews, Lithuanian-style" Mussar movement, mussar yeshivas. The prototype of this new type of rabbinical leader and educator was Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel (Slabodka), Nosson Tzvi Finkel (1849-1927) known as th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Avraham Grodzinski
Avraham Grodzinski (c. 1884 - July 13, 1944) was a rabbi who served as the mashgiach ruchani (spiritual supervisor) of the Slabodka yeshiva in Lithuania. He is best known for being the primary disciple of Nosson Tzvi Finkel, the Alter of Slabodka", and for his book of '' mussar'' (ethics) lectures called ''Toras Avraham''.Published posthumously by his son Yitzchak Grodzinsky in conjunction with Kollel ''Toras Avraham'' Early life Grodzinski was born in 1883 in Warsaw to parents of Lithuanian Jewish descent. His grandfather, Zev Grodzinski, emigrated from Lithuania to Warsaw, and his father, Yitzchak (Itcheh) was one of the leaders of the Warsaw Jewish community. Itcheh established and supported a yeshiva in Warsaw, regarding which the Chofetz Chaim commented "Reb Itcheh saved Jewish education in Warsaw".heard on a tape from Berel Wein of Yeshiva Shaarei Torah circa 1988 His home was dedicated solely to the dissemination of Torah and ''chesed'' (lovingkindness); tens of poor people ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
