Elijah Schik (1795 - September 2, 1876) also known as Reb Alinkah or the Ayn Eliyah was a 19th-century
Misngadic 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 ...
n rabbi.
Biography
Reb Alinkah was born in the town of
Vasilishki
Vasilishki ( be, Васілішкі, russian: Василишки, pl, Wasiliszki, yi, װאַסילישאָק ''Vasilishok'', lt, Vosyliškės) is an urban settlement in Shchuchyn District, Grodno Region, Belarus, the administrative center of Va ...
,
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...
around 1795. His father R. Benjamin was a prominent rabbi and a descendant of R. Hanoch Heinich Schick of
Shklov
Shklow ( be, Шклоў, ; Škłoŭ; russian: link=no, Шклов, ''Shklov''; yi, שקלאָוו, ''Shklov'', lt, Šklovas, pl, Szkłów) is a town in Mogilev Region, Belarus, located north of Mogilev on the Dnieper river. It has a railway s ...
. The Hungarian rabbi
R. Moshe Schick was a cousin of Reb Alinkah. Reb Alinkah was orphaned at only three months old after his father was killed in a
pogrom
A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russia ...
. He was a pupil of Benjamin, chief rabbi of Grodno. As rabbi he officiated in
Lida
Lida ( be, Лі́да ; russian: Ли́да ; lt, Lyda; lv, Ļida; pl, Lida ; yi, לידע, Lyde) is a city 168 km (104 mi) west of Minsk in western Belarus in Grodno Region.
Etymology
The name ''Lida'' arises from its Lithuani ...
, where he ultimately became engrossed in a controversy with the city's
Hasidic
Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...
rabbi,
R. Benjamin of Lida in 1854, later relocating to
Kobrin
Kobryn ( be, Кобрын; russian: Кобрин; pl, Kobryń; lt, Kobrynas; uk, Кобринь, Kobryn'; yi, קאָברין) is a city in the Brest Region of Belarus and the center of the Kobryn District. The city is located in the southwest ...
. On the holy days of Rosh ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur he acted as cantor. He was one of the preachers whose sermons always attracted large audiences. Schick was the author of "'Ayn Eliyahu," a commentary on
Jacob Ḥabib's "'En Ya'aḳob," published with the Vina edition of that work.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schik, Elijah
1795 births
1876 deaths
19th-century Lithuanian rabbis
People from Vilnius Voivodeship