Moshe Mordechai Epstein (1866–1933) was

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 Yeshiva Knesseth Yisrael in Slabodka,

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 ...

and is recognized as having been one of the leading

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 center ...

ists of the twentieth century. He is also one of the founders of the city of

Hadera Hadera ( he, חֲדֵרָה ) is a city located in the Haifa District of Israel, in the northern Sharon region, approximately 45 kilometers (28 miles) from the major cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa. The city is located along 7 km (5 ...

Childhood

Epstein was born in

Bakst Bakst is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Isaac Moses Bakst (d. 1882), Imperial Russian educator * Léon Bakst Léon Bakst (russian: Леон (Лев) Николаевич Бакст, Leon (Lev) Nikolaevich Bakst) – born ...

, in the

Vilna Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urba ...

district of Lithuania, on the 20th of Adar, 5626 (1866), to Rabbi Tzvi Chaim and Baila Chana Epstein. His father, who served as the rabbi of Bakst, had been affectionately referred to during his days in the

Volozhin yeshiva Yeshivas Etz Ḥayyim (), commonly called the Volozhin Yeshiva (), was a prestigious Lithuanian '' yeshiva'' located in the town of Volozhin, Russian Empire (now Valozhyn, Belarus). It was founded around 1803 by Rabbi Ḥayyim Volozhiner, a stu ...

as "the Bakst Genius". Moshe Mordechai's genius was detected from a very early age and he was called the ''illui from Bakst''. The child prodigy began studying in the Volozhin yeshiva at the age of 16, under the guidance of the legendary Torah giant Rabbi

Chaim Soloveitchik Chaim (Halevi) Soloveitchik (Yiddish: חיים סאָלאָווייטשיק, pl, Chaim Sołowiejczyk), also known as Reb Chaim Brisker (1853 – 30 July 1918), was a rabbi and Talmudic scholar credited as the founder of the popular Brisker appr ...

. There, he met his brother-in-law-to-be, Rabbi

Isser Zalman Meltzer Isser Zalman Meltzer ( he, איסר זלמן מלצר) (February 6, 1870 – November 17, 1953),Isser Zalman Meltzer "Even HaEzel" (1870 - 1953) was a famous Lithuanian Jewish and Belarusian Orthodox rabbi, rosh yeshiva and posek. He is also kn ...

, and, in 1889, married Menucha Frank, the eldest "Frank sister".

Leadership

After his marriage, Epstein moved to his wife's hometown, in

Kovno Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Tr ...

, and was joined there two years later by Rabbi Meltzer, following his marriage to Epstein's sister-in-law, Baila Hinda Frank. In Kovno, the two scholars studied under the renowned mussar master, Rabbi

Yitzchak Blazer Yitzchak Blazer (Hebrew: יצחק בלאזר) ‎(1837–1907) was an early important leader of the Musar movement. He is also sometimes referred to as Rav Itzele Peterburger due to his position as Chief Rabbi of St. Petersburg at a time when ...

, known in yeshivos as "Reb Itzele Peterburger", one of Rabbi

Yisrael Salanter Yisrael ben Ze'ev Wolf Lipkin, also known as "Israel Salanter" or "Yisroel Salanter" (November 3, 1809, Zhagory – February 2, 1883, Königsberg), was the father of the Musar movement in Orthodox Judaism and a famed Rosh yeshiva and Talmudist. ...

's foremost disciples. It was there that they became intrigued with the study of mussar. In 1894, both rabbis started teaching in the famed Slabodka yeshiva, which was not far from Kovno. In 1897, Nosson Tzvi Finkel, Slabodka's famed

mashgiach ruchani A mashgiach ruchani ( he, משגיח רוחני; pl., ''mashgichim ruchani'im'') or mashgicha ruchani – sometimes mashgiach/mashgicha for short – is a spiritual supervisor or guide. He or she is usually a rabbi who has an official position wit ...

), invited Epstein to become the rosh yeshiva. Epstein accepted the post, while Meltzer moved together with some of his best talmidim to the town of Slutsk to lead the

Ridvaz Rabbi Yaakov Dovid Wilovsky (February 7, 1845 – October 2, 1913), known by the acronym Ridvaz or Ridbaz, was a renowned rabbi, Talmudic commentator and educator. Biography Wilovsky was born in Kobrin, Russia on February 7, 1845. Wilovsky hel ...

's yeshiva there. The Slabodka yeshiva flourished under the joint leadership of Rabbis Epstein and Finkel, and many of its students were crucial in nurturing the spiritual level of the Jewish people in subsequent generations. For a list of notables, see

Slabodka yeshiva Slabodka yeshiva may refer to: * Hebron Yeshiva, a branch of the Slabodka Yeshiva in Hebron, relocated afterward to Jerusalem * Slabodka yeshiva (Bnei Brak), a branch of the Slabodka yeshiva in Bnei Brak * Yeshivas Knesses Yisrael (Slabodka) Ye ...

. In 1924, Rabbi Epstein was part of a delegation to the United States headed by Rabbi

Abraham Isaac Kook Abraham Isaac Kook (; 7 September 1865 – 1 September 1935), known as Rav Kook, and also known by the acronym HaRaAYaH (), was an Orthodox rabbi, and the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine. He is considered to be one of ...

, chief rabbi of the Land of Israel. In 1924, Epstein, Finkel, and most of the yeshiva, relocated to

Hebron Hebron ( ar, الخليل or ; he, חֶבְרוֹן ) is a Palestinian. city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judaean Mountains, it lies above sea level. The second-largest city in the West Bank (after East Je ...

, in what was then British

Mandate for Palestine The Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate for British administration of the territories of Palestine and Transjordan, both of which had been conceded by the Ottoman Empire following the end of World War I in 1918. The mandat ...

. The yeshiva thrived for five years in Hebron as it had in Lithuania. In late August 1929 mobs, incited by the antisemitic

Mufti of Jerusalem The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem is the Sunni Muslim cleric in charge of Jerusalem's Islamic holy places, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The position was created by the British military government led by Ronald Storrs in 1918.See Islamic Leadership ...

, swarmed the yeshiva, killing over 67 Jews and wounding many more, in an event known as the

1929 Hebron massacre The Hebron massacre refers to the killing of sixty-seven or sixty-nine Jews on 24 August 1929 in Hebron, then part of Mandatory Palestine, by Arabs incited to violence by rumors that Jews were planning to seize control of the Temple Mount in ...

. Among the victims was his American-born nephew Aaron David Epstein. In the aftermath, the British authorities evacuated the rest of the Jewish community. The yeshiva was relocated to the

Geula Geula ( he, גאולה lit. ''Redemption'') is a neighborhood in the center of Jerusalem, populated mainly by Haredi Jews. Geula is bordered by Zikhron Moshe and Mekor Baruch on the west, the Bukharim neighborhood on the north, Mea Shearim o ...

section of

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

, and was renamed Yeshivas Chevron. In 1975, Yeshivas Chevron moved to its current location in

Givat Mordechai Givat Mordechai, ( he, גבעת מרדכי, trans: ''Mordechai's Hill'') is a Jewish neighborhood in southwest-central Jerusalem, midway between the neighborhoods of Nayot and Malcha. The neighborhood was named after an American philanthropist, ...

Legacy

Epstein was known to share a warm relationship with Finkel. Epstein's daughter married Finkel's son, Moshe Finkel. Epstein's other daughter married

Yechezkel Sarna Yechezkel Sarna (1890–1969) was a disciple of Nosson Tzvi Finkel, (known as the "''Alter'' (elder) of Slabodka"), spiritual mentor of the Slabodka yeshiva. He was sent by Finkel to move the yeshiva from Europe to Hebron in 1925, and following ...

(1895–1969), who succeeded Epstein as rosh yeshiva of Chevron after his death. Epstein had only one son, Chaim Shraga Feivel, whom he named after his father-in-law. Epstein authored the ''Levush Mordechai'' (1901), which contains his ''chiddushim'', or novellae, on all tractates of the Talmud. His brother, Rabbi Ephraim Epstein (1876-1960) also studied at the Slabodka yeshiva, and later moved to the United States were he served as rabbi to Congregation Anshei Kneseth in Chicago for over 50 years. Rabbi Ephraim Epstein's son, Rabbi Harry Epstein, headed Ahavath Achim Congregation in Atlanta Georgia for over 50 years and founded what is now called the Epstein School. Epstein died in Jerusalem in 1933, corresponding to the Hebrew date 10 of

Kislev Kislev or Chislev (Hebrew: כִּסְלֵו, Standard ''Kīslev'' Tiberian ''Kīslēw''), also 'Chisleu' in the King James (authorized English) Bible, is the third month of the civil year and the ninth month of the ecclesiastical year on the He ...

5694. He is buried 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 ...

External links and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Epstein, Moshe Mordechai Lithuanian Haredi rabbis Haredi rabbis in Europe Haredi rabbis in Mandatory Palestine Rosh yeshivas Rabbis from Kaunas 1866 births 1933 deaths Burials at the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives Faculty of Slabodka yeshiva