The Tiktinsky (or ''Tiktinski'') family is "associated with the foundation and development of" the
Mir Yeshiva (Belarus)
The Mir Yeshiva ( he, ישיבת מיר, ''Yeshivas Mir''), commonly known as the Mirrer Yeshiva ( yi, מירער ישיבה) or The Mir, was a Lithuanian yeshiva located in the town of Mir, Russian Empire (now Belarus). After relocating a num ...
,
from which came the
one in Jerusalem, the
Mir in Brooklyn and
Bais HaTalmud
Beth Hatalmud Rabbinical College, or in short known as Bais Hatalmud,
is a small and selective Rabbinical college located in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, New York.
Founding and mission Background
Bais Hatalmud was founded in 1950 by s ...
.
Shmuel Tiktinsky and his oldest son,
Avrohom, who both died (separately) in 1835,
were the first two of this family to facilitate the success of the Mir. At that time, Shmuel's second oldest son,
Chaim Leib, was eleven years old.
Two others led the Mir before it became his turn.
[
]
Shmuel Tiktinsky
Shmuel Tiktinsky was "a merchant of considerable means and a talmudic scholar."[ He used both of these to build][from: ]Five Towns Jewish Times
The ''Five Towns Jewish Times'' is a weekly newspaper serving the Jewish communities of the Five Towns in southwestern Nassau County, New York, and the greater New York area, covering the area's large and growing Orthodox Jewish community.
The ...
and run the Mir.
Avrohom Tiktinsky
Avrohom Tiktinsky was given "the whole burden of administration" by his father in 1823.[ One change he made was eliminating ''eating kest'' - the practice of having individual students eat their meals by different town families each day. One purpose was
"raising their status."][
When, like his father, he died in 1835, ''Shmuels second oldest son was eleven years old.][ Responsibility shifted to the chief rabbi of the town, and subsequently upon ''his'' death, to that rabbi's son.
]
In 1850, the now 26 year old Chaim Yehuda Leib Tiktinsky, known as ''Chaim Leib'', "was appointed joint principal of the yeshiva."[ Chaim Leib "insisted that the student must devote himself solely to the texts and the commentaries" and reduced deployment of '']pilpul
''Pilpul'' ( he, פלפול, loosely meaning 'sharp analysis'; ) is a method of studying the Talmud through intense textual analysis in attempts to either explain conceptual differences between various halakhic rulings or to reconcile any appare ...
.''[ This brought in more students, and in 1867, with the death of the other principal, he
"was entrusted with the entire control" of the Mir.][ ''Chaim Leib'' named two sons ''Shmuel'' and ''Avrohom''.][
]
Beyond
Chaim Leib's Shmuel (1876), and then Avrohom (1883), were his successors.[ The latter retired in 1907.]
References
{{Jewish-hist-stub
1835 deaths
People from Mir, Belarus
Mir Yeshiva
Rabbinic dynasties