Ahron Dovid Burack (also known as Aaron David or Ahron David; he, אהרן דוד בוראק; 16 May 1892 – 7 October 1960) was a Lithuanian-American

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

and

rosh yeshivah Rosh yeshiva ( he, ראש ישיבה, plural, 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, ...

Early life and education

Ahron Dovid Burack was born in Popelan (now Papile) in

Kovno Governorate Kovno Governorate ( rus, Ковенская губеpния, r=Kovenskaya guberniya; lt, Kauno gubernija) or Governorate of Kaunas was a governorate ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire. Its capital was Kaunas (Kovno in Russian). It was formed ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

, on 16 May 1892Schwartz J., Kaye S.A., and Simons, J., eds. ''Who's Who in World Jewry''. (p. 149) Jewish Biographical Bureau. 1933."YU Torah Online: Our Speakers: Rabbi Ahron Dovid Burack", http://www.yutorah.org/speakers/speaker.cfm?teacherId=80035, accessed 12 October 2008. to Chaim Natan Burack and Basse Gittel Gibberman. As a young man in Lithuania, he studied at Yeshivas Knesses Yisrael (Slabodka) near

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

and at the Telshe Yeshiva near Telsiai, where he was ordained by Rabbi Yosef Leib Bloch.Sherman, Moshe D., ''Orthodox Judaism in America'', Westport, Connecticut:Greenwood Press, 1996, pp.41-43. https://books.google.com/books?id=cgMCSrDxKGAC&pg=PA41&dq=burack&sig=ACfU3U2WBiPVbdqyqNVsVVP-Wc14hYAc8A#PPA42,M1 , accessed 12 October 2008.

Rabbinical Positions

Burack immigrated to the United States in 1913. Following his arrival, Ahron Dovid Burack became rabbi of Beit Hamedrish Etz Chaim Anshei Volozhin in New York City. In 1917, the

Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...

synagogue Ohel Moshe Chevra Tehilim in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, granted Burack a lifetime contract to serve as rabbi of the congregation. Burack was an outspoken advocate for Jewish communal and Zionist causes. He was a leader of the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of the United States and Canada and the

Religious Zionists of America The Religious Zionists of America (Hebrew official name: Religious Zionists of America/Mizrachi-Hapoel Hamizrachi, also known as Mizrachi, is an American-based organization that is the official body for those, mostly Modern Orthodox Jews who ident ...

(Hapoel Hamizrachi), and was also involved with the

United Jewish Appeal The United Jewish Appeal (UJA) was a Jewish philanthropic umbrella organization that existed from its creation in 1939 until it was folded into the United Jewish Communities, which was formed from the 1999 merger of United Jewish Appeal (UJA), Cou ...

, the

Jewish National Fund Jewish National Fund ( he, קֶרֶן קַיֶּימֶת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael'', previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Syria (later Mandatory Palestine, and subseq ...

and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society ( HIAS)."Prof. Burack, Orthodox Leader, Dies During Synagogue Services", Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 10 October 1960. Available online at http://www.jta.org/1960/10/10/archive/prof-burack-orthodox-leader-dies-during-synagogue-services , accessed 06 December 2015. He was among a group of rabbis who implored President

Franklin Delano Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

and the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

to help rescue European Jews during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, reading a petition as part of a demonstration on the steps of the United States Capitol Building.Breitman, Richard, and Lichtman, Allan J. ''FDR and the Jews''. (p. 230) Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University. 2013.

Teaching and Writing

Burack was appointed Rosh Yeshiva at the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary in 1919 and continued to serve until his death in 1960. He was also a professor of Talmud and Homiletics at Yeshiva University. He was the author of פרחי אהרון ''Pirchei Aharon'' (''Flowers of Aaron''), two volumes of " homiletics and halacha" published in 1954.Burack, Aaron David, ''Pirchei Aharon'', New York:Ch'M'O'L, 1954. https://books.google.com/books?id=eLQrAAAAIAAJ&q=ahron+dovid+burack&dq=ahron+dovid+burack&pgis=1 , accessed 12 October 2008.

Yeshivat Pirchei Aharon

Burack died in New York on October 7, 1960, during the

Sukkot or ("Booths, Tabernacles") , observedby = Jews, Samaritans, a few Protestant denominations, Messianic Jews, Semitic Neopagans , type = Jewish, Samaritan , begins = 15th day of Tishrei , ends = 21st day of Tishre ...

holiday,"Dr. Aaron D. Burack, 68, Dies; Professor at Yeshiva University", ''New York Times'', 8 October 1960. and was later buried in the

Sanhedria Cemetery Sanhedria Cemetery ( he, בית עלמין סנהדריה) is a 27-dunam (6.67-acre) Jewish burial ground in the Sanhedria neighborhood of Jerusalem, adjacent to the intersection of Levi Eshkol Boulevard, Shmuel HaNavi Street, and Bar-Ilan Str ...

in Jerusalem."Remains of Rabbi Burack, Leader of U.S. Orthodox Jewry, Buried in Israel", Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 15 March 1962. Available online at http://www.jta.org/1962/03/15/archive/remains-of-rabbi-burack-leader-of-u-s-orthodox-jewry-buried-in-israel , accessed 06 December 2015. Following his death in 1960, a secondary school in Kiryat Shmuel,

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

, Israel, was named Yeshivat Pirchei Aharon in tribute to Rabbi Ahron Dovid Burack's memory and his work."YBA Pirchei Aharon celebrates 50th anniversary", AFYBA E-Newsletter 3(1), September 2010. Available online at http://www.afyba.org/newsletter/2010/september/ , accessed 06 December 2015. The school, which provides both secular and Torah education, is affiliated with the

Bnei Akiva Bnei Akiva ( he, בְּנֵי עֲקִיבָא, , "Children of Akiva") is the largest religious Zionist youth movement in the world, with over 125,000 members in 42 countries. It was first established in Mandatory Palestine in 1929. History B ...

movement. Notable alumni of Yeshivat Pirchei Aharon include Israel's former Ashkenazi

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 ...

Yona Metzger and past mayors of the cities of Jerusalem (

Uri Lupolianski Uri Lupolianski ( he, אורי לופוליאנסקי; born 1951) was mayor of Jerusalem from 2003 to 2008 and founder of Yad Sarah. Biography Born August 29, 1951 in Haifa, Israel, Lupolianski studied at the Yavne School in Haifa and then attende ...

) and Akko (Acre) (Shimon Lankry).

References

External links

Guide to the Aaron David Burack Papers, Yeshiva University Archives

Archive of Rabbi Aharon Dovid Burack's Shiurim (Lessons), YUTorah Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burack, Ahron Dovid 1892 births 1960 deaths People from Papilė People from Kovno Governorate Lithuanian Orthodox rabbis 20th-century Lithuanian rabbis Lithuanian emigrants to the United States Yeshiva University rosh yeshivas