Meir Atlas ( he, מאיר אטלס; 1848–1926) was the rabbi of numerous communities in pre-World War II Europe and one of the founders of the

Telz 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 ...

. He was an outstanding halachic authority who authored many

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 ...

and was one of the foremost

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 rabbis of his time.

Biography

Rabbi Meir Atlas was born in 1848 in Baisagola,

. In 1875, together with Rabbi Zvi Yaakov Oppenheim, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Abel and the help of a German

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

layman, Ovadyah Lachman, Atlas founded the

in Telz, Lithuania. He later served as rabbi and spiritual leader in a number of cities, including Libau in

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

, Salant in

, and

Kobryn 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 ...

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 ...

. In 1904, Rabbi Atlas was appointed rabbi to the community of Shavel. Meir's brother was Rabbi Eliezer Atlas. His daughter Michle was married to Rabbi Elchonon Wasserman,Weekly Biography: Hagaon Harav Elchanan Wasserman, Hy"d, ''Hamodia'' Newspaper, July 9, 2008, page C3 His other sons-in-law include Rabbi Chaim Ozer Grodzinski and Rabbi Yehudel Kahana Shapiro, the son of Rabbi Zalman Sender Kahana Shapiro. Rabbi Meir died on the 12th of

Shevat Shevat (Hebrew: שְׁבָט, Standard ''Šəvaṭ'', Tiberian ''Šeḇāṭ''; from Akkadian ''Šabātu'') is the fifth month of the civil year starting in Tishre (or Tishri) and the eleventh month of the ecclesiastical year on the Hebrew cale ...

in 1926.

References

1848 births 1926 deaths Haredi rabbis in Europe Lithuanian Haredi rabbis People from Radviliškis District Municipality {{Lithuania-rabbi-stub