Menachem Mendel Kasher ( he, מנחם מנדל כשר; March 7, 1895 – November 3, 1983) was a Polish-born Israeli rabbi and prolific author who authored an encyclopedic work on the

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

entitled ''Torah Sheleimah''.

Early life

Kasher was born in 1895 in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, Poland (then part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

). His father was Rabbi Yitzhak Peretz. At the age of 19, he edited the periodical ''Degel Ha'Torah'', the mouthpiece of the Polish branch of Agudath Israel. In 1924 (or 1925), in response to a call from the Ger

Rebbe A Rebbe ( yi, רבי, translit=rebe) or Admor ( he, אדמו״ר) is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spiritua ...

, Rabbi

Avraham Mordechai Alter Avraham Mordechai Alter ( pl, Abraham Mordekhaj Alter, he, אברהם מרדכי אלתר; 25 December 1865 – 3 June 1948), also known as the ''Imrei Emes'' after the works he authored, was the fourth Rebbe of the Hasidic dynasty of Ger, a po ...

, Kasher moved to

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

, in Mandate Palestine, to establish the Sfas Emes Yeshiva in honour of the Rebbe's father, Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter. He subsequently served as the

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 ...

of the yeshiva for its first two years. He later helped bring the Rebbe to Palestine about six months after the outbreak of

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 ...

''Torah Sheleimah''

Kasher's major work, ''Torah Sheleimah'' ("The Complete Torah"), is divided into two parts. The first part is the encyclopedia, the first work to publish all of the Written Law (the

Pentateuch The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the sa ...

) and the Oral Teachings (

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 ...

and

Midrash ''Midrash'' (;"midrash"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...

im) side by side. Kasher published from manuscript form several previously unknown midrashic works such as the ''Midrash Teiman''. The latter part consists of the extensive annotations and addendum in which he used his awareness of variant texts as well as his almost encyclopedic knowledge in all Jewish works to clarify many obscure points in the Talmud and the Rambam's commentary. The first volume of Torah Sheleimah was published in Jerusalem in 1927 and included 352 entries to the first chapter of Bereishit. The 38th volume was published in his lifetime (1983) and included Parshat Beha'alotcha. The 39th volume was published posthumously by his son-in-law Dr. Rabbi Aaron Greenbaum and includes a short biography. The 40th volume includes an expanded biography and full list of his works. To date, 45 volumes have been printed covering the first four (books of the Pentateuch).

Other activities

He was the driving force behind the 25-volume Torah journal "Noam", and wrote many of the articles. His son Moshe edited its 25 volumes which appeared between 1958 and 1984. Another work, ''Gemara Shelemah'', which was to have discussed and compared variant texts of the Talmud, was never completed save for Tractate

Pesachim Pesachim ( he, פְּסָחִים, lit. "Paschal lambs" or "Passovers"), also spelled Pesahim, is the third tractate of ''Seder Moed'' ("Order of Festivals") of the Mishnah and of the Talmud. The tractate discusses the topics related to the Jewi ...

Halachic rulings

*He permitted an

eruv An eruv (; he, עירוב, , also transliterated as eiruv or erub, plural: eruvin or eruvim) is a ritual halakhic enclosure made for the purpose of allowing activities which are normally prohibited on Shabbat (due to the prohibition of ''ho ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

(contrary to the ruling of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein) *He formulated a

halakhic ''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 ...

stance on the

international dateline The International Date Line (IDL) is an internationally accepted demarcation on the surface of Earth, running between the South and North Poles and serving as the boundary between one calendar day and the next. It passes through the Pacific O ...

in Jewish law *He argued against the "Lieberman clause" as a solution to the problem of – see

Get (conflict) Legal responses to agunah are civil legal remedies against a spouse who refuses to cooperate in the process of granting or receiving a Jewish legal divorce or ''"get"''. Agunah For a divorce to be effective under Jewish law, a man must grant his w ...

*In response to the establishment of the State of Israel, he advocated the drinking of a 5th cup at the

Passover Seder The Passover Seder (; he, סדר פסח , 'Passover order/arrangement'; yi, סדר ) is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew c ...

. His request to the Chief Rabbinate that it be officially instituted was dismissed.

Awards and honours

* In 1963, Rabbi Kasher was awarded the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

in Rabbinic literature. * He was awarded an honorary doctorate from Yeshiva University.

Published worksIntroduction to Torah Sheleimah Volume 40

* ''Torah Sheleimah'' — an encyclopedic work on the Torah * ''HaTekufah HaGedolah'' (Jerusalem 1969) — a treatise explaining the meaning of our times according to

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

, and which was a rebuttal to the Satmar Rav's work, ''Yoel Moshe'', in which the Satmar Rav explains his view that Zionism was against ''halacha''. * ''Ha'odom Al Hayarei'ach'' (Jerusalem 1970) — a discussion of the theological and legal issues involved when the moon was explored * ''HaMechilta DeRashbi VeHaRambam'' (New York 1943) — a discussion of the relationship between the Rambam's ''Mishneh Torah'' and a recently published midrash. * ''Divrei Menachem'' —

responsa ''Responsa'' (plural of Latin , 'answer') comprise a body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. In the modern era, the term is used to describe decisions and rulings made by scholars i ...

from many of the foremost scholars of the day, including the

Rogatchover Gaon Joseph Rosen (Yiddish: יוסף ראָזין, ''Yosef Rosin''; 1858 – 5 March 1936) known as the Rogatchover Gaon (Genius of Rogachev) and Tzofnath Paneach (Decipherer of Secrets—the title of his main work), was a rabbi and one of the mo ...

and the Klei Chemda. 4 volumes were published; in 1977, 19080, 1981 and 1983. * ''Haggada Sheleimah'' (New York 1961) — an encyclopedic work on the Pesach Haggada * ''Haggadat Pessach EretzYisraelit'' (New York 1950, Jerusalem 1976)- the Kasher Haggada - with a short running explanation. This was one of the first haggadot to be translated into English with commentary. * ''Haggda Leil Shimurim'' (Jerusalem 1983) - includes about 100 "Pesach-related" sayings from the 5 sages who are mentioned in the Haggada. * ''Arab'at Haroim'' discussing the opinions of 4 earlier Rabbis about the upcoming redemption * ''Kuntres haKotel Hama'arivi'' (Jerusalem 1981) was published anonymously, and has 9 chapters about the Western Wall. * ''Kav Hata'arich'' (Jerusalem 1977) - discusses the date line in Jewish law. It includes full color maps and the 3 major opinions on the subject as well as his own, a 4th opinion. * ''Sefer Shma Yisrael'' (Jerusalem 1980) and includes about 500 sayings on the first chapter of the Shma.