Dovid Shmidel (also spelled Dovid Schmidel,

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

: Szmiedl; born 1934) of Bnei Brak is a

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 the Chairman of

Asra Kadisha Asra Kadisha (The Committee for the Preservation of Gravesites) is an organization for the preservation of Jewish cemeteries and gravesites throughout the world. The organization attempts to avoid desecration of ancient gravesites by preventing co ...

(the Committee for the Preservation of Gravesites). He was involved in struggles against excavations at various locations including at the

Tomb of Maimonides According to Jewish tradition, the Tomb of Maimonides ( he, קבר הרמב"ם, Kever ha-Rambam) is in central Tiberias, on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, Israel. Maimonides died in Fustat, Egypt on 12 December 1204, where it is believed ...

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's F ...

in 1956 and at Israel's Highway 6; as well as at the disputed tomb of

Antigonus II Mattathias Antigonus II Mattathias ( grc-gre, Αντίγονος ''Antígonos''; he, , ''Matīṯyāhū''), also known as Antigonus the Hasmonean (died 37 BCE) was the last Hasmonean king of Judea. A puppet king installed by the Parthians, he was the son ...

in East Jerusalem. For an entire year, Shmidel was occupied with preserving the old Jewish cemetery in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

. Shmidel heads a

kolel A kollel ( he, כולל, , , a "gathering" or "collection" f scholars is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features shiurim (lectures) and learning ''sedarim'' (sessions); ...

in Komemiyut for tens of married men who live in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, Beit Shemesh, and other places, but they stay all week at the kolel and only go home for Shabbat. Shmidel delivers ''

shiurim 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 Ju ...

'' once or twice a week. He was born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

on April 2, 1934. In 1939, at age 5, he moved with his family to

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

. He studied at the

Slabodka yeshiva Slabodka yeshiva may refer to: * Hebron Yeshiva, a branch of the Slabodka Yeshiva in Hebron, relocated afterward to Jerusalem * Slabodka yeshiva (Bnei Brak), a branch of the Slabodka yeshiva in Bnei Brak * Yeshivas Knesses Yisrael (Slabodka) Ye ...

and later at

Kollel Chazon Ish Kollel Chazon Ish is a ''kollel'' (group of married Jewish men who study Torah) of rabbis on HaAri St 3, in Bnei Brak, Israel with a focus on Talmud study. The Kollel was originally established by Rabbi Avrohom Yeshaya Karelitz, who was known as ...

in Bnei Brak under Rabbi

Gedaliah Nadel Rabbi Gedaliah Nadel (1923–2004) was an influential rabbi in Israel's Haredi community. He was known for being one of the heads of Kollel Chazon Ish and was the leading authority of Jewish Law in the Chazon Ish neighborhood of Bnei Brak. He ...

. He also studied under Rabbi Moshe Shmuel Shapiro. Shmidel frequently consulted Rabbis

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 ...

and

Yitzchok Zev Soloveitchik Yitzchok Zev Halevi Soloveitchik (Hebrew: יצחק זאב הלוי סולובייצ'יק), also known as Velvel Soloveitchik ("Zev" means "wolf" in Hebrew, and "Velvel" is the diminutive of "wolf" in Yiddish) or the Brisker Rov ("rabbi of/from ...

. After the death of Rabbi Soloveitchik, Shmidel's mentor was Rabbi Soloveitchik's son, Rabbi Berel Soloveitchik. Shmidel met Rabbi

Joel Teitelbaum Joel Teitelbaum ( yi, יואל טייטלבוים, translit=Yoyl Teytlboym, ; 13 January 1887 – 19 August 1979) was the founder and first Grand Rebbe of the Satmar dynasty. A major figure in the post-war renaissance of Hasidism, he espoused a ...

twice, once in 1965 and once two weeks before Teitelbaum's death in 1979. Shmidel is married and has seven daughters and a son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shmidel, Dovid 1934 births Leaders of organizations Living people People from Bnei Brak Rabbis from Vienna Rabbis in Bnei Brak