Rabbi Meir Auerbach (1815–1878) was president of the
Jewish court
A beit din ( he, בית דין, Bet Din, house of judgment, , Ashkenazic: ''beis din'', plural: batei din) is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel. Today, it ...
at
Koło
Koło (; during the German occupation called ''Wartbrücken'' in 1940–41, ''Warthbrücken'' in 1941–45) is a town on the Warta River in central Poland with 23,101 inhabitants (2006). It is situated in the Greater Poland Voivodship (since 19 ...
, and author of ''Imrei Bina'' (Words of Wisdom). After his immigration to
Ottoman Palestine
Ottoman Syria ( ar, سوريا العثمانية) refers to divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of Syria, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Arabian Desert and south ...
in 1859, he headed the Poland Kollel and became the first
Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
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 ...
of
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
.
[ירחון בית יעקב No 100 Page 80](_blank)
/ref>
Biography
Meir Auerbach was born in Koło
Koło (; during the German occupation called ''Wartbrücken'' in 1940–41, ''Warthbrücken'' in 1941–45) is a town on the Warta River in central Poland with 23,101 inhabitants (2006). It is situated in the Greater Poland Voivodship (since 19 ...
in the Duchy of Warsaw
The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during ...
. He was a member of the rabbinic Auerbach family. His father was Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Auerbach, rabbi of Płock
Płock (pronounced ) is a city in central Poland, on the Vistula river, in the Masovian Voivodeship. According to the data provided by GUS on 31 December 2021, there were 116,962 inhabitants in the city. Its full ceremonial name, according to the ...
and Luntshitz, author of ''Divrei Chaim.'' Auerbach married Hindel of Kalisch. After the death of her husband, Hindel visited his grave on the Mount of Olives
The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet ( he, הַר הַזֵּיתִים, Har ha-Zeitim; ar, جبل الزيتون, Jabal az-Zaytūn; both lit. 'Mount of Olives'; in Arabic also , , 'the Mountain') is a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to Jeru ...
together with a group of women. At some point during this outing she disappeared and was never found again. According to rumors, she was seen at a convent.
Rabbinic career
Auerbach became rabbi of his hometown at the age of 25.
In 1846, Auerbach was appointed president of the Jewish beit din
A beit din ( he, בית דין, Bet Din, house of judgment, , Ashkenazic: ''beis din'', plural: batei din) is a rabbinical court of Judaism. In ancient times, it was the building block of the legal system in the Biblical Land of Israel. Today, it ...
in Koło
Koło (; during the German occupation called ''Wartbrücken'' in 1940–41, ''Warthbrücken'' in 1941–45) is a town on the Warta River in central Poland with 23,101 inhabitants (2006). It is situated in the Greater Poland Voivodship (since 19 ...
, where he served for nine years. Later he moved to Kalisz
(The oldest city of Poland)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = ''Top:'' Town Hall, Former "Calisia" Piano Factory''Middle:'' Courthouse, "Gołębnik" tenement''Bottom:'' Aerial view of the Kalisz Old Town
, image_flag = POL Kalisz flag.svg ...
, where he served as a rabbi and engaged in commerce. In his sermons, he encouraged members of his congregation to immigrate
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
to Palestine
__NOTOC__
Palestine may refer to:
* State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia
* Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia
* Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
, to "start the process of redemption."
Auerbach left Europe for the Holy Land
The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...
circa 1860, settling in Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
.[Encyclopedia Judaica, vol. 3, p.848, Meir Ben Isaac Auerbach] His position in Poland was filled by Rabbi Chaim Elozor Wax Chaim Elozor WaxAlso spelled Waks or Wachs. In Avotaynu XXIV Number 2 (Summer 2008), Dr. Neil Rosenstein in an article about matching up Rabbinical sources and Polish records points to the difficulty in tracing Rabbi Wax's records. This is due to th ...
. He founded a synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City at the southern end of the Street of the Jews.
Together with Rabbi Shmuel Salant
Shmuel Salant ( he, שמואל סלנט; January 2, 1816 – August 16, 1909) served as the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem for almost 70 years. He was a renowned Talmudist and Torah scholar.
Early life
Shmuel Salant was born in Białystok, ...
he served in the Jerusalem Chief Rabbinate and took over while Salant went abroad to collect funds.
In Jerusalem, there were many kollel
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); ...
s, each working for the benefit of their own communities. There was no umbrella organization to handle general Jewish affairs, such as paying the salaries of rabbis, paying Turkish military taxes, and dealing with Turkish officials. In 1866, Auerbach and Salant organized the first centralized committee to represent the interests of all the Ashkenazim, while the Sephardim
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefar ...
managed their affairs under the leadership of the Hakham Bashi
''Haham Bashi'' (chachampasēs) which is explained as "μεγάλος ραβίνος" or "Grand Rabbi".
* Persian: khākhāmbāšīgarī is used in the Persian version of the Ottoman Constitution of 1876. Strauss stated that there was a possibili ...
of Jerusalem.
Auerbach, who had been a successful merchant in Europe, lived off his personal wealth and refused to accept a salary. He aided many charitable institutions in Jerusalem and was a supporter of Jewish agricultural settlement around the country. He headed a society which attempted to purchase land for settlement in Jericho
Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Gove ...
, a project that was eventually abandoned. Auerbach was one of the founders of Jerusalem's Mea She'arim
Mea Shearim ( he, מאה שערים, lit., "hundred gates"; contextually, "a hundred fold") is one of the oldest Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem outside of the Old City. It is populated by Haredi Jews, and was built by members of the Old Yish ...
neighborhood.
Religious rulings
''Minhag Yerushalayim''
In his ''sefer Sefer may refer to:
* Sefer (Hebrew), a term for a book
People with the surname
* Franjo Šefer (born 1905), Yugoslav tennis player
* Bela Šefer, Yugoslav footballer playing in 1924
People with the forename
* Sefer Reis, Turkish privateer and Ot ...
'', ''Imrei Binah'', Auerbach promulgated the wedding custom known as ''Minhag Yerushalayim'', which does not permit musical instruments to be played at a wedding in Jerusalem proper in deference to the Holy Temple
The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusa ...
which lies in ruins in that city. According to this custom, only percussion instruments are allowed. Auerbach's decision was accepted by Rabbi Yosef Chaim Zonnenfeld, Rabbi Yehoshua Leib Diskin
Moshe Yehoshua Yehuda Leib Diskin (1818–1898), also known as the Maharil Diskin, was a leading rabbi, Talmudist, and Biblical commentator. He served as a rabbi in Łomża, Mezritch, Kovno, Shklov, Brisk, and, finally, Jerusalem, after moving t ...
, and later Rabbanim of Jerusalem.
Kosher etrogs
Auerbach and Salant considered the Balady citron
The balady citron is a variety of citron, or ''etrog'', grown in Israel and Palestine (region), Palestine, mostly for Jewish ritual purposes. Not native to the region, it was imported around 500 or 300 BCE by either Jewish or Greek settlers. Init ...
, cultivated in the Arab
The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
village of Umm el-Fahm
Umm al-Fahm ( ar, أمّ الفحم, ''Umm al-Faḥm''; he, אוּם אֶל-פַחֶם ''Um el-Faḥem'') is a city located northwest of Jenin in the Haifa District of Israel. In its population was , nearly all of whom are Arab citizens of Isr ...
, as the most kosher species of etrog
Etrog ( he, אֶתְרוֹג, plural: '; Ashkenazi Hebrew: ', plural: ') is the yellow citron or ''Citrus medica'' used by Jews during the week-long holiday of Sukkot as one of the four species. Together with the ''lulav'', ''hadass'', and '' ...
.Rabbi Shmuel Salant
/ref>
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Auerbach, Meir
1815 births
1877 deaths
19th-century rabbis in Jerusalem
19th-century Polish rabbis
Ashkenazi rabbis in Ottoman Palestine
Chief rabbis of Jerusalem
Burials at the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives
Congress Poland emigrants to the Ottoman Empire