Rabbi Shmaryahu Yitzchak Bloch (1864 – December 1923) was a rabbi and

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 ...

ist in

Tsarist Russia Tsarist Russia may refer to: * Grand Duchy of Moscow (1480–1547) *Tsardom of Russia (1547–1721) *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 ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Biography

There is very scant information about Rabbi Bloch's life. He was born in

Kretinga Kretinga (; german: Crottingen) is a City in Klaipėda County, Lithuania. It is the capital of the Kretinga district municipality. It is located east of the popular Baltic Sea resort town of Palanga, and about north of Lithuania's 3rd largest c ...

, a

shtetl A shtetl or shtetel (; yi, שטעטל, translit=shtetl (singular); שטעטלעך, romanized: ''shtetlekh'' (plural)) is a Yiddish term for the small towns with predominantly Ashkenazi Jewish populations which existed in Eastern Europe before ...

now in

Klaipėda County Klaipėda County ( lt, Klaipėdos apskritis) is one of ten counties in Lithuania, bordering Tauragė County to the southeast, Telšiai County to the northeast, Kurzeme in Latvia to the north, and Kaliningrad Oblast in Russia to the south. To the ...

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 ...

. However, it is known that Rabbi Bloch served as rabbi of Druskenik in Russia from 1884 until his emigration to England in 1888, and subsequently served as a rabbi in the communities of

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

Stamford Hill Stamford Hill is an area in Inner London, England, about 5.5 miles north-east of Charing Cross. The neighbourhood is a sub-district of Hackney, the major component of the London Borough of Hackney, and is known for its Hasidic community, the l ...

and

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, where he died in December 1923 ( Hebrew date: 7 Teves 5684). Rabbi Bloch was also an examiner for many years at the

Etz Chaim Etz Hayim, also transliterated as Eitz Chaim ( , meaning "Tree of Life"), is a common term used in Judaism. The expression can be found in , referring to the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. It is also found in the Book of Proverbs, where it i ...

yeshiva A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He gave an approbation to the

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 ...

''Doresh Tov L'amo'' authored by Rabbi Mordechai Tzvi Schwartz and published in London in 1917. Upon his sudden death, the ''

Jewish Chronicle 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 ...

'' wrote that Rabbi Bloch was a

"Staunch champion of Orthdodoxy... Even his most casual acquaintance must have been struck by his love - nay, his passion - for the
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 ...
. Possessed of a prodigious memory and of a zeal for study almost without parallel, he acquired so accurate a knowledge of the whole of the Talmud and the glosses thereon that his ''Bekius'' xtensively wide knowledgebecame proverbial. His mind was a veritable treasure-house of Rabbinic lore. No concordance was so reliable a guide. His piety was remarkable... he dug wells of learning wherever he sojourned... a pioneer in the establishment of Talmud Torah's and Yeshiboth."

References

*''Jewish Chronicle archival'' material
"Druskieniki" - Encyclopedia of Jewish Communities in Poland''Yakra d'Chayei'', page 47
British Orthodox rabbis 19th-century rabbis from the Russian Empire 20th-century English rabbis 1864 births 1923 deaths Date of birth missing Date of death missing Place of death missing Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom People from Kretinga 19th-century English rabbis {{UK-rabbi-stub