Rabbi Shmuel Alexandrov of

Bobruisk Babruysk, Babrujsk or Bobruisk ( be, Бабруйск , Łacinka: , rus, Бобруйск, Bobrujsk, bɐˈbruɪ̯s̪k, yi, באָברויסק ) is a city in the Mogilev Region of eastern Belarus on the Berezina River. , its population was 209 ...

( he, שמואל אלכסנדרוב; 1865–1941) was a prominent student of 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 stude ...

, who became close to the tradition of

Chabad Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic grou ...

Hasidism. Alexandrov was a

Jewish Orthodox Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on ...

mystical thinker, philosopher and anarchist, whose religious thought, an original blending of

Kabbalah Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "receiver"). The defin ...

Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses ...

, contemporary philosophy and secular literature, are marked by

universalism Universalism is the philosophical and theological concept that some ideas have universal application or applicability. A belief in one fundamental truth is another important tenet in universalism. The living truth is seen as more far-reaching th ...

and some degree of

antinomianism Antinomianism (Ancient Greek: ἀντί 'anti''"against" and νόμος 'nomos''"law") is any view which rejects laws or legalism and argues against moral, religious or social norms (Latin: mores), or is at least considered to do so. The term ha ...

. His works include ''פך השמן'' ("the Oil Jug"), a commentary on Pirkey Avot, and a large collection of essays, ''מכתבי מחקר וביקורת'' ("Letters of Research and Investigation"). Alexandrov was influenced by the anarchistic implications of the work of

Rav 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 ...

(the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the British Mandate for Palestine), from which he sought to derive practical instruction. Another influence on Alexandrov was Russian philosopher Vladimir Solovyov.Konstantin Burmistrov (Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia) ''On the History of Russian-Jewish Intellectual Relations: Vladimir Solovyev and Rabbi Shmuel Alexandrov'' Alexandrov lived all his life in Bobruisk and was murdered in

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexandrov, Shmuel 1865 births 1941 deaths 20th-century Russian philosophers Orthodox Jewish anarchists Jewish philosophers Lithuanian Orthodox rabbis Individualist anarchists Russian anarchists Soviet anarchists People from Babruysk Russian Jews who died in the Holocaust 19th-century Lithuanian rabbis

See also

Further reading

References