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 ...

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 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 i ...

, to establish the

Sfas Emes Yeshiva Sfas Emes Yeshiva ( he, ישיבת שפת אמת) was an Orthodox Jewish yeshiva in Jerusalem, serving the Gerrer Hasidic community until 2016. Founded in 1925 in the Mahane Yehuda neighborhood of Jerusalem, it was one of the few Hasidic yeshiva ...

in honour of the Rebbe's father,

Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter ( he, יהודה אריה ליב אלתר, 15 April 1847 – 11 January 1905), also known by the title of his main work, the ''Sfas Emes'' (Ashkenazic Pronunciation) or ''Sefat Emet'' (Modern Hebrew), was a Hasidic rabbi ...

. He subsequently served as the rosh yeshiva 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 opposing ...

''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 ...

) 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 ce ...

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 Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah s ...

'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 Je ...

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 Moshe Feinstein ( he, משה פײַנשטיין; Lithuanian pronunciation: ''Moshe Faynshteyn''; en, Moses Feinstein; March 3, 1895 – March 23, 1986) was an American Orthodox rabbi, scholar, and ''posek'' (authority on ''halakha''—J ...

) *He formulated a halakhic stance on the international dateline in Jewish law *He argued against the "Lieberman clause" as a solution to the problem of – see Get (conflict) *In response to the establishment of the State of Israel, he advocated the drinking of a 5th cup at the Passover Seder. 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 in Rabbinic literature. * He was awarded an honorary doctorate from

Yeshiva University Yeshiva University is a private Orthodox Jewish university with four campuses in New York City."About YU
on the Yeshiva Universi ...

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 t ...

, 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

's ''Mishneh Torah'' and a recently published midrash. * ''Divrei Menachem'' — responsa from many of the foremost scholars of the day, including the Rogatchover Gaon 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.