Rabbi Azriel Rabinowitz ( he, עזריאל רבינוביץ; 1905 – 15 July 1941) was a

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, primar ...

at the

Telshe yeshiva Telshe Yeshiva (also spelled ''Telz'') is a yeshiva in Wickliffe, Ohio, formerly located in Telšiai, Lithuania. During World War II the yeshiva began relocating to Wickliffe, Ohio, in the United States and is now known as the Rabbinical College ...

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 ...

and one of the youngest pre-

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

rosh yeshivas.

Biography

He was born in Telz, Lithuania, in 1905, the son of Rabbi

Chaim Rabinowitz Chaim Shalom Tuvia Rabinowitz, also known as Reb Chaim Telzer, (1856 – 21 October 1931) was an Orthodox Lithuanian rabbi and rosh yeshiva of the Telshe yeshiva. He developed a unique method of Talmudic analysis which became renowned throu ...

(Reb Chaim Telzer) (1856–1930), one of the rosh yeshivas at the Telshe yeshiva, and Osnat Geffen (1880–1942). Rabbi Azriel was a brilliant young man and by the age of 20 had mastered the entire

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 cente ...

in depth. Upon the death of his father in 1931, he was appointed to the faculty of the yeshiva at the young age of 26. The following year, he married Channa (1908–1941), daughter of Rabbi Mordechai Zev Dzikansky, with whom he had three children, Chaim (1932–1941), Avigdor (1935–1941), and Shoshana.

Teaching style

His ability to go through a volume, absorb its contents in depth and remember everything, in a matter of several hours, distinguished him from his colleagues. His students relate how on occasion, Rabbi Rabinowitz would leave the yeshiva thinking over a particular Talmudic concept, and became so engrossed that he was unaware that he had walked all the way out of the town's boundaries. Indeed, despite his youth he was one of the greatest Torah scholars of his generation. He behaved modestly, not wanting to bring any special attention to himself. His complete knowledge and understanding of the requirements of

mitzvot In its primary meaning, the Hebrew word (; he, מִצְוָה, ''mīṣvā'' , plural ''mīṣvōt'' ; "commandment") refers to a commandment commanded by God to be performed as a religious duty. Jewish law () in large part consists of discus ...

, would never impel him to render

halachic ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

decisions for others, because he did not want to assume such a great responsibility. Rabbi Rabinowitz organized lectures in his own home to assist students who were finding the transition from the ''mechina'' (preparatory school), to the yeshiva proper, a difficult one. He also arranged lectures at his home on the subjects found in the second half of the Talmudic Tractate being studied in the yeshiva, which was not lectured on by the faculty.

Telz massacre

On Tuesday, 15 July (20

Tammuz Dumuzid or Tammuz ( sux, , ''Dumuzid''; akk, Duʾūzu, Dûzu; he, תַּמּוּז, Tammûz),; ar, تمّوز ' known to the Sumerians as Dumuzid the Shepherd ( sux, , ''Dumuzid sipad''), is an ancient Mesopotamian god associated with shep ...

) 1941,

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

forces and local Lithuanian sympathizers massacred the male population of Telz, including Rabbi Azriel Rabinowitz and the faculty of the Telshe yeshiva. His wife and children were murdered on 17 August 1941. Almost all of Rabbi Rabinowitz's writings were lost in the Holocaust. A few lectures recorded by students have been published in Talmudic journals.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rabinowitz, Azriel Rosh yeshivas 20th-century Lithuanian rabbis 1905 births 1941 deaths People from Telšiai Lithuanian Haredi rabbis Rabbis from Telšiai Lithuanian Jews who died in the Holocaust